Statuette of a Black African Person (100–50 BCE): Art, History and Details

Statuette of a Black African Person (100–50 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Characterized as a Black African person by his hair, facial features, and unusually dark patina, this figure wears a non-Greek type of hat and a simple garment associated with lower classes. His stooped posture suggests that he may have a physical disability, something rarely depicted in Greek art. His right foot and right hand (with bowl) are modern restorations done before the statuette came to Cleveland, perhaps in the 1800s.

Object facts

• Title: Statuette of a Black African Person
• Date: 100–50 BCE
• Culture: Greece, Greco-Roman Period, late Ptolemaic Dynasty
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: bronze, solid cast, with silver and copper inlays
• Dimensions: Overall: 18.4 x 5.3 x 7.2 cm (7 1/4 x 2 1/16 x 2 13/16 in.)
• Collection: GR - Greek
• Department: Greek and Roman Art
• Accession number: 1963.507

A detail from the museum

The intentionally dark patina contrasts with the inlaid silver eyes and copper lips.

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.