Seated Male Figure with Lance. Culture: Bamana peoples. Dimensions: H. 35 3/8 x W. 9 x D. 10 3/8in. (89.9 x 22.9 x 26.4cm). Date: 16th-19th century.Bamana figures such as this were the focal point of celebrations of the "Jo" and "Gwan" initiation societies (associations of men and women) in several villages in southern Mali. This work depicts an idealized male leader that would have been the companion to a similarly attired mother and child representation. For annual rituals, a community's collection of a series of such works were removed from shrines, cleaned and oiled, decorated with cloth and beads, and displayed in the village square as a group. The mother and child and her male counterpart were placed in central positions of honor, distinguished by attributes of their extraordinary physical and supernatural powers.This figure is depicted wearing a hunter's hat adorned with animal horns and amulets. The amulets serve to heighten his powers of perception and in doing so augment hi