Bronze Head from Ife
7°28′20″N 4°33′20″E / 7.4722°N 4.5556°E
| Bronze Head from Ife | |
|---|---|
 The Ife Head on display at the British Museum | |
| Material | "Bronze", actually brass |
| Size | height: 35 cm width: 12.5 cm depth: 15 cm |
| Weight | 5.1 kg |
| Created | 14th/early 15th century[1] |
| Present location | British Museum, London |
| Registration | Af1939,34.1 |
| Culture | Medieval Yoruba |
The Bronze Head from Ife, or Ife Head,
Description
Like most West African "
Excavation & Removal
The Ife Head was found by accident in 1938 at the Wunmonije Compound,
in 1939.The discovery of the sculptures was the spur for the government to control the export of antiquities from Nigeria. Before this was achieved, this head made its way to London via Paris and another two were sent to America. Attempts to prevent further exports, prompted by
Ife
The Ife head is thought to be a portrait of a ruler known as an
These bronze heads are evidence of additional trade since Ife-made glass beads have been found widely in West Africa. The copper is thought to be from local Nigerian ores, although earlier scholars believed it to have come from Central Europe, North West Mauritania, the Byzantine Empire, or Southern Morocco.
The bronze casts could have been modelled on contemporary terracotta sculptures.[9] A long[citation needed] tradition of terracotta sculpture with similar characteristics existed in the culture prior to the date of the creation of these metal sculptures. Ivory was another material used frequently in African art.
The Ife sculptural tradition is one of several West African artistic traditions, including the Bura of Niger (3rd century CE – 10th century CE), Koma of Ghana (7th century CE – 15th century CE), Igbo-Ukwu of Nigeria (9th century CE – 10th century CE), and Jenne-Jeno of Mali (11th century CE – 12th century CE), that may have been shaped by the earlier West African clay terracotta tradition of the Nok culture of central Nigeria.[10]
Impact on art history
When Frobenius discovered the first example of a similar head it undermined existing Western understanding of African civilisation. Experts did not want to believe that Africa had ever had a civilisation capable of creating artefacts of this quality. Attempting to explain what was thought an anomaly, Frobenius offered his theory that these had been cast by a colony of ancient Greeks established in the thirteenth century BC.[11] He made a claim, widely circulated in the popular press, that his hypothesised ancient Greek colony could be the origin of the ancient legend of the lost civilization of Atlantis.[12][13][14]
It is now recognised that these statues represent an indigenous African tradition that attained a high level of realism and refinement.[3][failed verification][10] The Ife heads are often considered a great achievement of African culture, and it is believed that they were made by an individual artist in a single workshop.[3]
Influence on contemporary culture
There is widespread use of the Ife Head in logos and branding of Nigerian corporations and educational institutions such as Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife.[15]
The Ife Head was the symbol for the 1973
The Ife Head held by the British Museum was included in the 2010 major exhibition Kingdom of Ife: Sculptures from West Africa, developed in partnership with Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments, the Museum for African Art, New York and the British Museum. The exhibition was part of a series of events that marked the 50th anniversary of Nigerian independence.[17] In 2011 the Ife Head was included in the British Museum/BBC's A History of the World in 100 Objects[18]
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See also
- Archaeology of Igbo-Ukwu
- Benin bronzes
- Bronze Head of Queen Idia
References
Notes
- ^ a b c British Museum. "Object: The Ife Head". British Museum. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- ^ The name used by the British Museum
- ^ a b c d e Ife head, History of the World in 100 Objects, BBC, retrieved 30 November 2013
- ^ The British Museum collection database "scope note" on "copper alloy", "brass" and "bronze" reads "The term copper alloy should be searched for full retrievals on objects made or bronze or brass. This is because bronze and brass have at times been used interchangeably in the old documentation, and copper alloy is the Broad Term of both. In addition, the public may refer to certain collections by their popular name, such as 'The Benin Bronzes' most of which are actually made of brass." British Museum, "Scope Note" for "copper alloy". Britishmuseum.org. Retrieved on 2014-05-26.
- ^ Bronzes from Ife and Benin, Peter Herrmann, Berlin, 2007, retrieved 30 November 2013
- ^ National Art Collections Fund. "Art we've helped buy". Art Fund. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ Ife head Brass head of a ruler, British Museum highlights, retrieved 30 November 2013
- ISBN 0521857643.
- ISBN 0299116042.
- ^ ISBN 9781412981767.
- S2CID 163123186.
- ^ On the ruins of Atlantis – Leo Frobenius between research and Vision (in German) Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine, freunde-afrikanischer-kultur.de, retrieved 1 December 2013
- ^ "German Discovers Atlantis in Africa; Leo Frobenius Says Find of Bronze Poseidon Fixes Lost Continent's Place" (PDF). The New York Times. January 30, 1911. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
- ^ C. Hercules Read (March 1911). "Plato's "Atlantis" rediscovered". Burlington Magazine. Vol. 18, no. 96. pp. 330–5. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
- OCLC 430498709.
- ^ "Kingdom of Ife: sculptures from West Africa". British Museum. Retrieved 2018-11-09.
- ^ "Kingdom of Ife". British Museum. Retrieved 2018-11-10.
- ^ "BBC - A History of the World - Object : Ife head". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-10.
Further reading
- Suzanne Preston Blier, Art and Risk in Ancient Yoruba: Ife History, Politics, and Identity c.1300, Cambridge University Press, 2015
- John Mack (ed), Africa, Arts and Cultures, London 2005
- Editha Platte, Bronze Head from Ife, British Museum Press, 2010
- Frank Willett, The Art of Ife (CD Rom), The University of Glasgow, 2004
