A bronze head - Ife - Nigeria
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€ 500
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Selected by Julien Gauthier
With almost a decade of experience bridging science, museum curation, and traditional blacksmithing, Julien has developed a unique expertise in historical arms, armour, and African art.
Estimate € 2,700 - € 3,000
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A life‑sized bronze head titled “A bronze head,” of Ife origin from Nigeria, weighing 4.7 kg, 42 cm high including the stand, sold with a stand, in fair condition, supplied with a certificate of origin and provenance.
AI-assisted summary
Description from the seller
Probably a head of Olokun in the style of Ife, Nigeria, But there are different opinions about this bronze head. Another opinion, based on oral tradition, assumes that this is the portrait of a Queen of the Ooni.
Life sized and cast using a lost wax technique. A crown like headdress with a circular crest, and a tubular band that runs across the head ornamented with small studs running horizontally on the top and the bottom of the band. The face with a delicate features: almond shaped eyes, small nose and full lips, with refined overall patterns. The neck is ringed which is a sign of beauty across many Ife and Benin heads. The holes in the neck were used to attach it to a wooden marionette, as described and shown by Frank Willett, Ife, pages. Please note that the attribution is provided for reference only if laboratory test are not included. Signs of oxidation, the neck is partly fragmentary, Certificate of origin and provenance given to the buyer, incl. wooden stand.
“According to the oral traditions of the Yoruba people, Ife is the place where life and civilisation began. Ife is regarded as the legendary homeland of theYoruba-speaking peoples and its sacred ruler, the Ooni, is still revered as the descendant of the original creator gods. Ife is located in Osun State in modern south-western Nigeria.
"Ife began to develop as a city-state in the late first millennium, around AD 800 and became a leading political, economic and spiritual centre in the lower Niger region. Between 1100 and 1400 it floursihed as a commercial centre with access to the lucrative trade networks along the Niger River.
The art of Ife has produced a large corpus of sculptural works in terracotta, stone, brass and copper which were found at different sites in the city. Among these artworks the representations of humans are striking for their naturalistic style. This life-like modelling is unique in Africa and when objects from Ife were first presented to the western world they were compared with the classical traditions of Ancient Greece and Rome. It was even suggested that such heads were evidence that Ife was the site of the lost civilization of Atlantis. In fact the sculpture of Ife is today rightly seen as one of the highest achievements of African art and culture.” Source: British Museum
Lit:
E. Platte, 2010, Head of a Ruler, London, British Museum Company
E. Eyo and F. Willett, 1980, Treasures of Ancient Nigeria, London, Royal Academy of Arts.
J. W. Langton, O. Akin Ige & T. Rehren "Early Primary Glass Production in Southern Nigeria" in Journal of African Archaeology, Vol. 4 (1), 2006
The Ife head of a queen refers to a sculpture from the ancient kingdom of Ife, one of the most significant cultural and artistic centers in pre-colonial West Africa. Ife, located in present-day southwestern Nigeria, was renowned for its advanced artistic traditions, particularly in the realms of metalworking, terracotta, and bronze casting.
The Ife heads, especially those depicting royalty and important figures, are some of the most iconic artifacts associated with the civilization. These sculptures often represent kings (Ooni), queens, and other high-ranking individuals, and they are noted for their intricate detail and naturalistic qualities, which set them apart from many other African art traditions.
An "Ife head of a queen" would likely be a highly detailed sculpture made from materials such as terracotta, brass, or bronze, featuring features like:
Head of an Ooni in the style of Ife, exhibited 2018 Wolfgang Jaenicke Gallery, photo: wolfgang-jaenicke.com, for more information, please write us an e-mail with the identification number of the photo identification no. DSC07776 (last photo sequence).
1. Realistic facial features: The Ife heads are known for their lifelike depictions of human faces, showing an extraordinary level of skill and an understanding of human anatomy.
2. Complex hairstyles and adornments: Queens and other women depicted in Ife art are often shown with elaborate hairstyles, crowns, or jewelry, reflecting their status and beauty.
3. Symbolism of power: The queens represented in Ife art are likely symbols of divine authority or noble status, with their heads serving as representations of leadership and reverence within the community.
These heads are generally believed to represent royal figures from Ife's classical period, roughly from the 12th to 15th centuries. They were likely used for ceremonial or religious purposes, possibly associated with ancestral worship or the honoring of deities. Some of the most famous Ife heads have been unearthed from archaeological sites in the region, revealing a complex and highly developed culture.
One of the most famous examples of Ife sculpture is the "Ife Queen Head," which stands as a testament to the artistry and cultural significance of the Ife people.
[Ife - Benin Exhibition 2018, WJ Gallery, Berlin]
Height: 34 cm without stand
Height: 42 cm incl. stand
Seller's Story
Wolfgang Jaenicke’s engagement with African art did not begin in the field or the marketplace but in a quieter, more inward space—among papers, books, and objects that belonged to his father. The archive on Germany’s former colonies was not arranged to tell a single story; it suggested many. It invited scrutiny rather than reverence, and it taught Jaenicke early on that objects are never mute. They carry time inside them—fracture and continuity held in the same form—and they ask to be read as carefully as texts.
For more than a quarter century, Jaenicke has worked as a collector, dealer, and intermediary, though none of these terms quite captures the shape of his practice. What used to be grouped, too casually, under the heading of “Tribal Art” has never appeared to him as a sealed or historical category. It is, instead, a set of living traditions, constantly negotiating the present. His academic training—in ethnology, art history, and comparative law—provided a grammar. The language itself he learned elsewhere. In Mali, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Ghana, knowledge emerged slowly, through repeated encounters that hardened into relationships, and through trust built not all at once but over years.
Mali became the gravitational center of this experience. Between 2002 and 2012, Jaenicke lived and worked in Bamako and Ségou, where he ran Tribalartforum, a gallery overlooking the Niger River. The space resisted easy chronology. Sculptures and ceramics shared the room with photography, and works by Malick Sidibé—images of Malian youth in the 1970s, self-assured and exuberant—hung alongside older ritual forms. The effect was not nostalgic but clarifying: past and present did not cancel each other out; they sharpened one another.
The war of 2012 ended this chapter abruptly, as wars tend to do. But it did not dissolve the work. Together with Aguibou Kamaté, Jaenicke regrouped in Lomé, closer to the places where many of the objects originated and to the routes they continue to travel. Since 2018, Berlin has become another point on this map. Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke now operates opposite Charlottenburg Palace, supported by a small team of specialists. Its focus rests, in particular, on West African bronzes and terracottas—materials shaped by earth and fire, and by forms of memory that resist easy translation.
What distinguishes Jaenicke’s practice is not only its geographical range but its internal tension. Fieldwork is paired with provenance research; commerce is treated as inseparable from responsibility. In collaboration with museums and scholarly initiatives, circulation is framed not as extraction but as an ethical process that remains unfinished. The aim is not to remove objects from the world and seal them off, but to keep them readable within it—to allow them to continue speaking, even as the conditions of their speech change.
Probably a head of Olokun in the style of Ife, Nigeria, But there are different opinions about this bronze head. Another opinion, based on oral tradition, assumes that this is the portrait of a Queen of the Ooni.
Life sized and cast using a lost wax technique. A crown like headdress with a circular crest, and a tubular band that runs across the head ornamented with small studs running horizontally on the top and the bottom of the band. The face with a delicate features: almond shaped eyes, small nose and full lips, with refined overall patterns. The neck is ringed which is a sign of beauty across many Ife and Benin heads. The holes in the neck were used to attach it to a wooden marionette, as described and shown by Frank Willett, Ife, pages. Please note that the attribution is provided for reference only if laboratory test are not included. Signs of oxidation, the neck is partly fragmentary, Certificate of origin and provenance given to the buyer, incl. wooden stand.
“According to the oral traditions of the Yoruba people, Ife is the place where life and civilisation began. Ife is regarded as the legendary homeland of theYoruba-speaking peoples and its sacred ruler, the Ooni, is still revered as the descendant of the original creator gods. Ife is located in Osun State in modern south-western Nigeria.
"Ife began to develop as a city-state in the late first millennium, around AD 800 and became a leading political, economic and spiritual centre in the lower Niger region. Between 1100 and 1400 it floursihed as a commercial centre with access to the lucrative trade networks along the Niger River.
The art of Ife has produced a large corpus of sculptural works in terracotta, stone, brass and copper which were found at different sites in the city. Among these artworks the representations of humans are striking for their naturalistic style. This life-like modelling is unique in Africa and when objects from Ife were first presented to the western world they were compared with the classical traditions of Ancient Greece and Rome. It was even suggested that such heads were evidence that Ife was the site of the lost civilization of Atlantis. In fact the sculpture of Ife is today rightly seen as one of the highest achievements of African art and culture.” Source: British Museum
Lit:
E. Platte, 2010, Head of a Ruler, London, British Museum Company
E. Eyo and F. Willett, 1980, Treasures of Ancient Nigeria, London, Royal Academy of Arts.
J. W. Langton, O. Akin Ige & T. Rehren "Early Primary Glass Production in Southern Nigeria" in Journal of African Archaeology, Vol. 4 (1), 2006
The Ife head of a queen refers to a sculpture from the ancient kingdom of Ife, one of the most significant cultural and artistic centers in pre-colonial West Africa. Ife, located in present-day southwestern Nigeria, was renowned for its advanced artistic traditions, particularly in the realms of metalworking, terracotta, and bronze casting.
The Ife heads, especially those depicting royalty and important figures, are some of the most iconic artifacts associated with the civilization. These sculptures often represent kings (Ooni), queens, and other high-ranking individuals, and they are noted for their intricate detail and naturalistic qualities, which set them apart from many other African art traditions.
An "Ife head of a queen" would likely be a highly detailed sculpture made from materials such as terracotta, brass, or bronze, featuring features like:
Head of an Ooni in the style of Ife, exhibited 2018 Wolfgang Jaenicke Gallery, photo: wolfgang-jaenicke.com, for more information, please write us an e-mail with the identification number of the photo identification no. DSC07776 (last photo sequence).
1. Realistic facial features: The Ife heads are known for their lifelike depictions of human faces, showing an extraordinary level of skill and an understanding of human anatomy.
2. Complex hairstyles and adornments: Queens and other women depicted in Ife art are often shown with elaborate hairstyles, crowns, or jewelry, reflecting their status and beauty.
3. Symbolism of power: The queens represented in Ife art are likely symbols of divine authority or noble status, with their heads serving as representations of leadership and reverence within the community.
These heads are generally believed to represent royal figures from Ife's classical period, roughly from the 12th to 15th centuries. They were likely used for ceremonial or religious purposes, possibly associated with ancestral worship or the honoring of deities. Some of the most famous Ife heads have been unearthed from archaeological sites in the region, revealing a complex and highly developed culture.
One of the most famous examples of Ife sculpture is the "Ife Queen Head," which stands as a testament to the artistry and cultural significance of the Ife people.
[Ife - Benin Exhibition 2018, WJ Gallery, Berlin]
Height: 34 cm without stand
Height: 42 cm incl. stand
Seller's Story
Wolfgang Jaenicke’s engagement with African art did not begin in the field or the marketplace but in a quieter, more inward space—among papers, books, and objects that belonged to his father. The archive on Germany’s former colonies was not arranged to tell a single story; it suggested many. It invited scrutiny rather than reverence, and it taught Jaenicke early on that objects are never mute. They carry time inside them—fracture and continuity held in the same form—and they ask to be read as carefully as texts.
For more than a quarter century, Jaenicke has worked as a collector, dealer, and intermediary, though none of these terms quite captures the shape of his practice. What used to be grouped, too casually, under the heading of “Tribal Art” has never appeared to him as a sealed or historical category. It is, instead, a set of living traditions, constantly negotiating the present. His academic training—in ethnology, art history, and comparative law—provided a grammar. The language itself he learned elsewhere. In Mali, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Ghana, knowledge emerged slowly, through repeated encounters that hardened into relationships, and through trust built not all at once but over years.
Mali became the gravitational center of this experience. Between 2002 and 2012, Jaenicke lived and worked in Bamako and Ségou, where he ran Tribalartforum, a gallery overlooking the Niger River. The space resisted easy chronology. Sculptures and ceramics shared the room with photography, and works by Malick Sidibé—images of Malian youth in the 1970s, self-assured and exuberant—hung alongside older ritual forms. The effect was not nostalgic but clarifying: past and present did not cancel each other out; they sharpened one another.
The war of 2012 ended this chapter abruptly, as wars tend to do. But it did not dissolve the work. Together with Aguibou Kamaté, Jaenicke regrouped in Lomé, closer to the places where many of the objects originated and to the routes they continue to travel. Since 2018, Berlin has become another point on this map. Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke now operates opposite Charlottenburg Palace, supported by a small team of specialists. Its focus rests, in particular, on West African bronzes and terracottas—materials shaped by earth and fire, and by forms of memory that resist easy translation.
What distinguishes Jaenicke’s practice is not only its geographical range but its internal tension. Fieldwork is paired with provenance research; commerce is treated as inseparable from responsibility. In collaboration with museums and scholarly initiatives, circulation is framed not as extraction but as an ethical process that remains unfinished. The aim is not to remove objects from the world and seal them off, but to keep them readable within it—to allow them to continue speaking, even as the conditions of their speech change.
Details
Ethnic group/ culture
Ife
Country of Origin
Nigeria
Material
Bronze
Sold with stand
Yes
Condition
Fair condition
Title of artwork
A bronze head
Height
42 cm
Weight
4.7 kg
Sold by
GermanyVerified
protop
Rechtliche Informationen des Verkäufers
- Unternehmen:
- Jaenicke Njoya GmbH
- Repräsentant:
- Wolfgang Jaenicke
- Adresse:
- Jaenicke Njoya GmbH
Klausenerplatz 7
14059 Berlin
GERMANY - Telefonnummer:
- +493033951033
- Email:
- w.jaenicke@jaenicke-njoya.com
- USt-IdNr.:
- DE241193499
AGB
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