This equestrian figure probably portrays Erinle, one of the pantheon of gods (Orisha) of the Yoruba from the Oshogbo area of Nigeria. The tall male coiffure and hatched eye borders are also characteristic of the Oshogbo area. Erinle may have been an ancestor who became a cult hero, much in the same way as St. George has become a saint in Europe. His statues are found on shrines dedicated to him, but it impossible to say what function this small carving performed. The two holes at the elbows would suggest suspension, worn by one of Erinle's devotees - a jolly bunch by all accounts, much given to dancing and merry-making on his name day