The so-called Djeini statue appeared around 700. It flourished until 1750.

Terracotta statues were manufactured by various groups living in the present Niger Delta region of Mali, centered around the ancient urban center of Geni-Genu. These pottery sculptures, more than 300 of which are published in this book for the first time, express a remarkable array of physical conditions and human emotions, and provide the largest collection of ancient sacred gestures to any civilization in sub-Saharan Africa.

investigates this important and unpublished collection of clay sculptures from an art form in Mandi, West Africa, and traces possible links Among areas in West Africa whose former artistic patterns were thought to have evolved independently. This book, generously illustrated with hundreds of color images, is a major contribution to the study of an art form that was virtually unknown a few decades ago.