A terra-cotta head in the style of Ife, which maybe represents an unknown young Oba. The work is characterized by the typical Ife style features: The corners of the upper eyelids hang over those of the lower ones. Around the lips is an accented edge. There are grooves around the neck. The portrait is of a relative youthful man. It is calm and dignified with the mouth shut. It is particularly engaging - in quality and appearance, and with deep serenity. Art-historical importance of this piece lies in its highly developed and distinctive sculptural style, in the tension between realism and abstraction. On one side it is naturalistic, portrait-like and on the other side it is classical and timeless. It is an idealized naturalism. He wears the typical crown and broad necklace of an Oba. A hole in the centre of the calotte, possibly in analogy to the bronze heads on which an ivory tooth was mounted; beautiful red patina.

Lit.: Bronzes and Terra-Cottas from Ile-Ife, H. Meyerowitz and V. Meyerowitz, The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs. Arts de L'Afrique Noire, Jean Laude, translated by Jean Decock, University of California Press Berkeley, 1966, 1. Paperback-Edition 1973. 2000 ans d’histoire africaine. Le sol, la parole et l’écrit. Mélanges en hommage à Raymond Mauny. Tome I. Paris : Société française d'histoire d'outre-mer. Ife and Raymond Mauny, by Thurstan Shaw, 1981.

sold

Height: 14 cm (incl. stand 19 cm)
Weight: 404 g (incl. stand 748 g)