African? Clay figure.

Looking for age and origin. I know nothing about this. It could be a tourist piece or school art project for all I know.

 

Looks more Meso-American to me.

 

Another avenue to explore. Thank you.

 

Possibly from Ecuador. I can't do any research at the moment, so I'll tag @2manybooks for you.

 

You are so amazingly knowledgeable. I have something unusual from Egypt to show you on the weekend xx

 

We don't know if I am right yet.

Oh, lovely!

 

We'll see

 

I’ve looked at Mesoamerican and Ecuadorian and while some features are similar I haven’t been able to find one with this particular style of headwear. Probably a tourist piece but does seem to have some age to it.

 

I would say it's African, based on the clay used, and the way the fingers and toes are made with just slash marks and not very defined. Not all tribes in Africa even made pottery, so that should narrow down the search, a little.

I'd look for figures made with clay, and with similar forms of toes and fingers, ears, nose, and mouth. Those are generally key to identifying the tribe. You might start with Tanzania, I've seen some similar figures identified as Zigua, but remember that "researching" on the internet may not be reliable, unless the item is from a reputable collector or gallery, or a major museum that specializes in the topic.

Bamum tribe in Cameroon has a similar style hair/headdress, which might be a clue.

 

I agree that it looks African, but I cannot add anything more definitive.