Statues of this genre are used ritually by the Bamana people of Mali. Typically it would be the focus of what they call a "sacrifice" in which offerings of various substances - like the blood of a chicken that was killed for this purpose - would be made in honor of a spirit which this figure represents. This figure, of a male in a relatively stylized form, is a very unusual version of an otherwise relatively common Bamana statue. It is rare.

This figure measures:
32 x 4 x 6" (81 x 10 x 15 cm). The base measures 7 x 7 7/8" (18 x 20 cm)