A fragmentary female terracotta figure from the Djenné region, Mopti area, Mali. The sculpture belongs to the well-known corpus of inland Niger Delta terracotta traditions associated with the broader Djenné-Jeno cultural sphere. The surviving portion depicts a seated woman supporting a child on one thigh, the child clinging closely to the mother’s torso. The head of the child is missing, leaving the gesture of embrace and bodily attachment as the primary narrative element. Incl stand. Without thermoluminescence test, the attribution and datation is given based on our knowledge in the field. The piece remains subject to authentication. The composition emphasizes intimacy and physical interdependence, with the child’s arms and torso pressed firmly against the mother’s body. This close bodily contact creates a unified sculptural mass, a characteristic feature of many terracotta figures from the Inland Niger Delta, where human relationships are often expressed through condensed, interlocking forms rather than detailed facial articulation. The female figure is typically rendered with a stable, grounded posture, suggesting fertility, nurture, and social continuity. Even in fragmentary condition, the sculpture communicates themes of motherhood and care through the structural relationship between the two bodies. The absence of the child’s head shifts emphasis away from individual identity toward gesture, contact, and compositional unity. Djenné terracotta traditions are notable for their stylized treatment of anatomy, with simplified volumes, elongated limbs in some cases, and a strong focus on silhouette. Figures of women with children are part of a broader iconographic repertoire that reflects domestic life, lineage, and social reproduction within the Inland Niger Delta cultural environment. Literature: Susan Keech McIntosh, Ancient Middle Niger: Urbanism and the Self-Organizing Landscape. Cambridge University Press, 2005. Roderick and Susan McIntosh, Excavations at Jenné-Jeno, Hambarketolo, and Kaniana (Inland Niger Delta). University of California Press, 1980s reports. Georgina Herrmann, Djenné: A West African Trading Center. British Museum Publications, 1975. Frank Willett, African Art. Thames & Hudson, 1971. Ezio Bassani and William Fagg, Africa: The Art of a Continent. Munich: Prestel, 1995. Philip Ravenhill (ed.), African Ceramics and Terracottas in Context. Fowler Museum publications, various volumes. Till Förster, Kunst und Archäologie in Mali. Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, 1990s studies. Jean-Paul Colleyn, Djenné and the Inland Niger Delta Traditions. Paris: Musée du quai Branly studies, various articles. This description was created with the help of our local informant Bakari Bouaflé and additionally with the aid of AI. Despite careful individual verification of the information provided by our informant, errors or inaccuracies may occur in the description due to the use of artificial intelligence. MAZ13005