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Art of West Africa�500BCE-1900CE�

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Nok Terracottas �(500 BCE to 200 CE)

Nigeria; Nok peoples,

Head, Clay, H. 36 cm (14 13/16")

National Museum, Lagos, Nigeria, 79.R.1

Seated Dignitary, c. 250 B.C

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts�Nok People, Africa, Fired Clay;

H. 36 1/4 x W. 10 7/8 x D.14 in.�

Nok terracottas are the oldest known figurative sculpture south of the Sahara.
Nok is a mining village in Nigeria. The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location in 1928 caused its name to be used for the Nok Culture – a complex society covering a large area.
This terracotta head on the left was discovered in 1943
Artifacts continue to be unearthed without documentation of the context in which they were buried. There is a lack of extensive archaeological knowledge that has severely limited our understanding of Nok terracottas.

Most Nok sculpture is hollow and coil-built like pottery. The slip (mix of clay/water used to give pottery surfaces an even texture) of many Nok terracottas has eroded, leaving a grainy exterior that does not reflect their original smooth appearance.
Nok sculpture consists of what appear to be portrait heads and bodies fragmented by damage and age. Bodies were sculpted in standing, sitting, and genuflecting postures.
Do these figures look stylized or naturalistic? Stylized
Most of the Nok head fragments were once part of entire bodies. These objects are so highly varied that it is likely they were modeled individually rather than cast from molds.
Although terracottas are usually formed using additive techniques, many Nok pieces were sculpted subtractively in a manner similar to carving. This distinctive approach suggests that a comparable wood-carving tradition may have influenced them.
The heads of Nok terracottas are invariably proportionally large relative to the bodies, and while not enough is known of Nok culture to explain this apparent imbalance, it is interesting to note that a similar emphasis of the head in later African art traditions often signifies respect for intelligence.��

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Nok Sculpture�https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVtD1uz3sVk�

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Nok Terracottas�STYLISTIC CHARACTARISTICS

Eyes: Triangular or Semi-circular
Pierced eyes, nose, mouth, and ears
Flared nostrils
Long, large heads
Elaborate hairstyle

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Head, Africa, Nigeria, Nok region, 7th century BC-3rd century AD

Terracotta, 38.2 x 20 cm (15 1/16 x 7 7/8 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

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London, Entwistle Gallery

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What Characteristic Nok features do you see?
Are they realistic or stylized?
Two artistic techniques were used to create the facial features:

Additive: Pieces of clay added/fused to the main piece. Ears, eyebrows, nose and lips
Subtractive: Clay carved or removed. Eyes, nostrils, opening of mouth

Additional Information

This piece on the left is remarkably well preserved, its glossy surface largely intact. It was shaped by hand from a coarse-grained clay, covered with slip, and then burnished. The production of terracottas of this size was a challenging enterprise, requiring sophisticated technical skill. The identity of the portrayed figures remains unknown, but the adornments and elaborate hairstyles and headdresses of many of the larger figures seem to indicate that they represent notables or even leaders. Although the use and function of terracottas such as the Cleveland head is equally uncertain, some scholars have suggested they served ritual purposes and may have been part of a shrine or temple, or even placed on a tomb.

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Ife Sculpture�The Yoruba People, Nigeria�(1000-1500 CE)

Nok

Ife

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Ife Bronze Heads�https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLWw1c9uXGw��

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Shrine Head – Ife �Terracotta H. 12”, W. 5 3/4 “.�Minneapolis Institute of Arts�

Head, Ife. 14th-15th century C.E.

Copper alloy. Fundación Marcelino Botín/Museum for African Art. © National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.

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The Ife Head, 14thC-15thC(early)

Brass, Height: H 35cm, W12.5cm, D15 cm

The British Museum, London, England

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Tada Seated Figure, ca. late 13–14th century�Copper; H. 21 1/8 in. (53.7 cm)�Tada National Museum, Lagos, 79.R.18�

Naturalized full body sculpture in Ife style
Hollow-cast
Half life-size

The seated Tada figure, dated to the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century and named for the village in which it was found, is one of the finest works in this tradition. It is hollow-cast and, at fifty-four centimeters tall, half-life size.
The sculpture was cast in several separate pourings.

Additional Information

Though found on the bank of the Niger River far north of Ife, the work shares the stylistic naturalism of other Ife metal and terracotta works. The naturalistic proportions of head and body and lifelike limbs, arms, and torso are some of the distinctive features of this style. Also characteristic of Ife culture, the figure wears a wrapper with a sash tied on the left hip.
By the time the art world first learned of this piece, it had been reintegrated into contemporary ritual practice. The sculpture of the seated man was scrubbed every Friday with gravel from the Niger's riverbed by Tada villagers, who believed that this ritual would ensure their own fertility and that of the fish on which they subsist. The abraded surface of the Tada man is the result of this weekly ritual scrubbing. �

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Royal Art: Kingdom of Benin�(1500-1900 CE)

Ife

Nok

Ife

Benin

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Sculpture of Royalty, bronze, 15-16th century, Musee du Louvre, Paris

Benin Busts�15^th Century

Benin Queen Mother, brass, c. 1500-50, 15 ½” tall, British London Museum

Benin people associated the head with knowledge, intelligence, character, judgement, and family leadership.
Heads like this one were ordered by every new Oba as centerpieces for the ancestral altar in honor of his deceased predecessor and placed on an altar.
The memorial heads are not real portraits, but rather standardized representations meant to celebrate royal insignia.
The head is cast proportionally bigger that other parts of the body in visual representations, whether it is rendered naturalistically, stylized, or in abstract form.

Early heads display:

Relatively naturalistic features
Minimal necks with coral necklaces
Stylized hair patterns
The raised marks (ikharo) above the eyebrow are a form of cultural marker – three for men, four for women or a foreigner.
The iron irises of the eyes are said to convey both the mystical authority of indigenous forged metal and the enduring stare of one whose nature is in part divine.
Parallel iron bars set into the forehead invest the head with the power of iron

Right:

This bronze head was made using the lost wax casting technique. It is a very realistic representation of a young woman from the Benin court, who wears a high pointed crown of lattice-shaped red coral beads. The eyes and two bands between them are inset with iron. Above each eyebrow are engraved four lines. The sophisticated technique and design of the head suggests that it was made in the early sixteenth century, when Queen Idia, mother of Oba Esigie, ruled the Benin court. Queen Idia played an instrumental role in her son's successful military campaigns against neighboring tribes and factions. After her death, Oba Esigie ordered dedicatory heads of the queen to be made, to be placed in front of altars or in the Queen Mother’s palace. The heads were designed to honor her military achievements and ceremonial power.

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Benin Kingdom, Nigeria, late 16th or early 17th century

Brass, 10 3/4”, returned to Nigeria in 2022 (previously in British Museum, London)�

Benin Busts�16-17^th Century

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Lost Wax Casting�https://youtu.be/HCVeRWMgac g��

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Benin Bronze Plaques

British Museum, London�

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Benin Bronze Plaques

Plaque: Warrior Chief, Warriors and Attendants, 16th–17th century, Nigeria; Edo, Court of Benin, The Met

Oba with leopards (detail), Plaque, 16th-17th century, brass, 49 x 34 x 6 cm, Benin © Trustees of the British Museum.

Left Plaque: The central figure is depicted larger to symbolize authority and rank. This warrior chief is flanked by attendants and soldiers. The warrior is shown with leopard-spot scarification marks and a leopard tooth necklace, which associate him with stealth, speed, and ferocity of a leopard. He wears a coral-studded collar, a lavish wrap, and a brass ornament on his hip. He carries a ceremonial sword and holds a spear.
Right Plaque: The king is holding two leopards and has a belt made of mud fish. Leopards are the king of the forest and the Obo was the king of the city and villages. Mudfish were special and sacred in that they could burrow into the grown during droughts and survive until the rainy season. Body adorned with red/orange coral beads on chest, ankles, and helmet. Wearing the bead of rule on his chest.
CLICK: Notice that the warrior is wearing what is called a Hip Mask…

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Benin, Queen Mother (Idia) c1550

British Museum �Hip Mask 9" ivory, iron, copper

Length: 24.5 cm width: 12.5 cm�

Benin bronze mask from West Africa

American Museum of Natural History

height 7 1/4 in.

Hip Masks

Benin bronze hip mask of a leopard face�18th Century�The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco�

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Textiles

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Kente Cloth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9f2o8JDeS0�

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Kente Cloth

Best known African textile
Originally for royalty
Silk or cotton

Ewe kente cloth (detail), 1920-40, Ghana, cotton, 339x198 cm, The British Museum

The King has Boarded the Ship (close-up detail of “Broken Pot” pattern) c. 1985, rayon, (collection of Dr. Courtnay Micots)

Kente is the best known and most widely appreciated of all African textiles. “Kenten” means basket, as it is a woven cloth
It was first created by the Ashanti people of Ghana in the 1730’s as a cloth for royalty. These royal cloths were made of silk, now cotton is more common.
It’s the cloth that is most commonly associated with Africa as a symbol of Pan-Africanism and Afrocentric identity.
Kente is woven in narrow strips about four inches wide and about six feet in length. The strips are stitched together to create a large piece of fabric.
Every pattern has a story, and there are more than 300 known patterns, with different colors having their own symbolism.

Black: maturation, intensified spiritual energy

Blue: peacefulness, harmony, love

Green: vegetation, planting, harvesting, growth, spiritual renewal

Gold: royalty, wealth, high status, glory, spiritual purity

Grey: healing and cleansing rituals

Maroon: mother earth, healing

Pink: female essence of life, a mild, gentle aspect of red

Purple: feminine aspects of life; usually worn by women

Red: political and spiritual moods, bloodshed, sacrificial rites and death

Silver: serenity, purity, joy,

White: purification, sanctification rites and festive occasions

Yellow: preciousness, royalty, wealth, fertility, beauty

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Hands-On Project:�Clay Sculpture

4-5”

Tall

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Benin

Nok

Ife

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Sculpture Styles

Long, cylindrical heads
Eyes – semi circle or triangle
Flared nostrils
Pierced eyes, nose and mouth
Elaborate hair/headdress

Natural looking
Elongated neck
Scarification

Eyes – full and open
Marks above eyebrows (4 - woman; 3 – man)
Flared nose, full cheeks
Stylized hair
Coral necklace and head pieces

Nok Ife Benin