Nigeria - Lot 221

Nigeria Exceptional and rare Ifé commemorative head Bronze, 15th-17th century H. 37 x W. 16 cm Thermoluminescence test by Laboratory Ralf Kotalla on 21/05/2010. Provenance (according to family tradition): private collection of a Franco-Belgian artist. The artists were able to design these bronzes on the model of contemporary terracotta. A long tradition of terracotta sculpture with similar characteristics existed prior to the creation of these metal sculptures. As for their use, the large heads were perhaps used as effigies of the dead at funeral ceremonies, which still take place among the Yoruba some one year after the rapid burial of the dead imposed by the tropical climate. Most of the small bronzes and terracotta heads were produced for the altars of Ife's many shrines, or in memory of sacrificial victims.