Lot 106
Africa, Northern Nigeria, Nok, ca. 500 BCE to 200 CE. A finely, modeled terracotta head from one of the oldest African centers of figural sculpture and ironworks. This male head displays characteristic traits of the classical Nok style including an elongated head, a high smooth forehead, wide open triangular eyes with perforated pupils, boldly delineated lids, and a lobed assymetrical coiffure. The naturalism displayed in the modeling of the nose provides a rich contrast to the marvelously stylized, abstract eyes. A sophisticated example that is more than two thousand years old! Size: 9.1" H (23.1 cm) Size: 5.875" L x 5.625" W x 7.875" H (14.9 cm x 14.3 cm x 20 cm); 11.125" H (28.3 cm) on included custom stand.
Classical Nok terracotta sculpture was first found in 1943 deep within a tin mine, near the present-day town of Nok, situated on the Jos Plateau in central Nigeria. The exact use of these portrait-like figures has yet to be discovered; none of these sculptures has ever been found in situ and any remains of these ancient structures are practically non-existent today. However, it has been suggested the hollow terracotta figures were ancestral effigies kept in shrine houses. In addition, the style of Nok facial features shows parallels with contemporaneous bronze and wooden sculptures created by the Benin and Yoruba peoples of Nigeria. It has been said these ancient Nok figures represent the beginnings of African art.
This piece has been tested using thermoluminescence (TL) analysis and has been found to be ancient and of the period stated. A report from ASA, Paris, France will accompany purchase.
Provenance: ex-old private New England, US collection, acquired in the 1970s
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#154323
- Condition: A fragment from a larger sculpture with losses to peripheries and high-pointed areas. Lower coiffure lobes possibly reattached. Tiny TL perforation on verso of coiffure/headdress. All clay is original.
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