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Julien Gauthier

An Ife bronze head of unknown age, depicting an Oni of Ife with its cown, 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 accentuated edge, here especially around the upper lip. There are grooves around the neck; the bronze is heavily encrusted with various layers of reddish brown patina, partly eroded, defects on the neck, a dent at the top of the head, four openings in the neck for nails, with which the head was probably originally attached to a wooden body. Similar bronzes that we analyzed using the TL method showed an age of 500 - 600 years.

incl. A Certificate of Provenance of the National Commission of Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Abuja, Nigeria. We suspect that this document was issued by the NCMM of a previous government or based on its original documents. We have not yet received a response to inquiries to the NCMM in Abuja from the current director, who has been in office since March 2024. In any case, this document is likely to be of considerable importance for provenance research, which has so far dealt almost exclusively with colonial injustice and its documentation.

Similar bronze heads like the one of the Wunmonije Compound type are quite often found, which raises the question of their use. It is assumed that they were attached to a life-size wooden figure, possibly with movable limbs. These figures were dressed in the same way as the person depicted would have been. Perhaps the Oba was thus able to attend ceremonies and burials without being personally present. When a new Oba came into power perhaps only the bronze head was replaced.

Lit.: Frank Willet, Ife. Neue Entdeckungen der Archäologie, 2. Auflage 1975, Tafel 2 und 3. H. Meyerowitz and V. Meyerowitz, Bronzes and Terra-Cottas from Ile-Ife, The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs (Oct., 1939). Arts de L'Afrique Noire, Jean Laude, translated by Jean Decock, University of California Press Berkeley, 1966, 1. Paperback-Edition 1973.

Ife Frank Willet (last photo sequence), Ife. Neue Entdeckungen der Archäologie, 2. Auflage 1975, Tafel 2 und

Bronze - Fair condition

Head - Ife  (No Reserve Price)

African & Tribal Art

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Object

Tribal sculptures statues carvings and figurines

Tribal masks

Tribal art and objects

Figure

Dance mask

Mask

Sculpture

Book

Textile

Statue

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Country of origin

Mali

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Burkina Faso

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Cameroon

Ghana

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Material

Wood

Bronze

Terracotta

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Metal

Iron (cast)

Leather

Stone

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Steel

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Bone

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Iron

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Gender

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Condition

Good condition

Good condition - used with small signs of aging & blemishes

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Fair condition

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Good condition - used with small signs of ageing

Good condition, see description

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Needs restoration

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Fair

As new - unused

Good condition - used with some signs of wear

Very good condition, see description

Good condition, used with some signs of wear

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Without original box

Period

Mid 20th century

1930-1940

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African & Tribal Art

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Head - Ife (No Reserve Price)

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