一件青铜雕塑 - 确实地 - 尼日利亞 (沒有保留價)

Vere Bronze Figure, Jimeta Region, Nigeria

Vere (Verre), Jimeta region, Adamawa State, Nigeria
Cast copper alloy (bronze/brass), incl stand.
This piece is sold without a TL test. Its age and authenticity therefore remain unverified.

This elegant standing figure belongs to the distinctive metalworking tradition of the Vere, or Verre, of the Adamawa region of northeastern Nigeria. Vere metalwork is particularly associated with lost-wax casting and includes personal ornaments, prestige objects, ritual equipment and anthropomorphic figures. Historical collections confirm the importance and technical sophistication of copper-alloy casting among the Verre.

The figure is constructed around a remarkably slender and balanced human body. A narrow cylindrical torso rises above long legs, while the shoulders extend almost horizontally before the arms bend sharply downward and inward. Both hands meet symmetrically in front of the abdomen. This creates two large open spaces between arms and torso and gives the sculpture an unusually graphic silhouette.

The head is strongly individualized. Large elliptical ears project dramatically from either side of the skull, while the face is dominated by a broad projecting mouth, prominent lips and a small raised nose. The eyes are modeled as raised almond-shaped forms. Along the lower face runs a sequence of small projections that may represent a beard, scarification, jewelry or another form of facial ornamentation; their exact interpretation should remain open without specific field documentation.

Ornament is an integral part of the figure. A broad necklace or torque follows the upper chest, bracelets encircle both arms, anklets mark the transition to the feet, and another ornamental band surrounds the hips. The hands are carefully differentiated by parallel incisions representing the fingers. Small rounded projections on the chest identify the figure as female.

The legs are long and slightly curved, ending in disproportionately large feet with individually indicated toes. The resulting contrast between the extremely slender torso and the broad feet provides visual stability while emphasizing the figure's verticality.

The surface ranges from very dark brown to black, with greenish oxidation visible particularly around the head, shoulders and feet. Warmer copper-colored passages appear along raised details and areas of wear. Such variation is characteristic of aged copper alloys, although the precise composition of the metal cannot be determined visually.

Regional characteristics

The Vere, more commonly written Verre in specialist literature, inhabit the Adamawa region of northeastern Nigeria and adjoining areas toward Cameroon. Their artistic environment belongs to the culturally diverse Upper Benue and Adamawa zone, where Vere communities historically interacted with Chamba, Mumuye and numerous other neighboring populations. Vere works have consequently sometimes been confused with those of neighboring groups.

Metalworking is one of the particularly distinctive aspects of Vere material culture. Richard Fardon's detailed research into Verre arts documents an extensive corpus of brass work including ornaments, bells, initiation objects, weapons, prestige objects and anthropomorphic figures. The surviving corpus demonstrates that copper-alloy casting was not an incidental activity but an important and highly developed component of Verre artistic production.

The present figure displays several characteristics encountered among published Vere copper-alloy sculptures: elongated proportions, strongly projecting facial features, prominent ears, bent arms separated from the torso, large feet, carefully indicated jewelry and an emphasis on bodily adornment. Comparable Vere figures also display necklaces, bracelets, belts and anklets as integral parts of their sculptural conception.

The large loop-shaped ears are particularly striking. Rather than being anatomically naturalistic, they have been enlarged into independent sculptural forms, almost functioning like ornaments themselves. Together with the necklace, bracelets, waist ornament and anklets, they create a figure in which bodily identity and adornment are inseparable.

Jimeta, today part of the Yola urban area in Adamawa State, places the recorded provenance within the wider geographical environment historically associated with Vere communities. The locality should nevertheless be understood as collection information rather than automatically as evidence for a distinct “Jimeta style.”

The precise function of Vere anthropomorphic copper-alloy figures remains less securely documented than the broader Verre metalworking tradition. Published examples are often described cautiously because their original contexts were insufficiently recorded. It would therefore be inappropriate to identify this figure specifically as an ancestor, divination figure or fertility image without additional information from its original context.

What can be stated with greater confidence is that the sculpture belongs to a regional tradition in which metal itself carried considerable technical and social value. Its sophisticated lost-wax construction allowed the caster to create the thin arms, open spaces, projecting ears and minute ornamental details that would have been considerably more difficult to achieve through direct carving.

The result is a particularly refined example of Vere figurative metalwork. Its aesthetic strength derives from the balance between geometry and animation: horizontal shoulders oppose the long vertical torso, curved arms frame the body, and the oversized ears and feet counterbalance one another at the upper and lower extremities. Despite its slenderness, the figure possesses a pronounced physical presence.

Selected Literature

Fardon, Richard, Christine Stelzig and Klaus Piepel. Surviving Works: Context in Verre Arts. This extensive study is particularly relevant to Verre brass casting and includes dedicated sections on anthropomorphic figures, personal ornaments, initiation objects and other categories of Verre metalwork.

Berns, Marla C., Richard Fardon and Sidney Littlefield Kasfir, eds. Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum at UCLA, 2011. Important for understanding the artistic traditions and intercultural relationships of the wider Benue and Adamawa regions.

Fardon, Richard. Central African Art and regional studies of the Chamba and neighboring peoples. Particularly relevant for understanding the complex cultural relationships of the Nigeria-Cameroon borderlands.

Some of the information and photos are generated by artificial intelligence and is based on published sources from the fields of ethnography, archaeology, and art history documents. All information and photos are protected by copyright.

Inv. No. MAZ30581

Informant: Amadou Dogo