that documented much earlier in the Mediterranean and Near East
(see “Hollow-Casting,” Chapter 5, page 122). The sculpture’s upper
section consists of a figure seated on a horse, and the lower is an
elaborately embellished handle with beaded and threadlike patterns.The rider’s head is of exaggerated size, a common trait in the art of
many early cultures. The prominent facial stripes probably represent
marks of titled status, as can still be found among Igbo-speaking
peoples today.398 Chapter 15 AFRICA BEFORE 1800J
ust after the turn of the 19th century,
the German anthropologist Leo
Frobenius “discovered” the sculpture of Ile-
Ife in the Lower Niger River region. Be-
cause of the refinement and naturalism of
Ile-Ife statuary, he could not believe that
these works were locally made. Rather, he
ascribed authorship to ancient Greece,
where similarly lifelike art was well known.
Other scholars traced these works to an-
cient Egypt, along with patterns of sacred
kingship that they also believed originated
several thousand miles away in the Nile Val-
ley. But excavations in and around Ile-Ife,
especially near the king’s palace, have estab-
lished that local sculptors were indeed the
artists who made the extraordinary sculptures in stone, terracotta,
and copper alloys found at Ile-Ife. Radiocarbon dating places these
works as early as the 11th or 12th century. A number of these sculp-
tures served the kings in ceremonies of installation, in funerals, and
probably in annual festivals that reaffirmed the sacred power of the
ruler and the allegiance of his people.
As is the case with the figure of the king illustrated here (FIG. 15-6),
Ife sculptors modeled most heads and figures with focused attention
on naturalistic detail, apart from blemishes or signs of age, which
they intentionally omitted. Thus Ife style is lifelike but at the same
time idealized. The artists portrayed most people as young adults in
the prime of life and without any disfiguring warts or wrinkles.
Some life-size heads, although still idealized, take naturalism to the
point that they give the impression of being individual portraits.
This is especially true of a group of 19 heads cast in copper alloys
that scholars are quite certain record the features of specific persons,
although nearly all their names are lost. Among the most convincing
portraits, however, is a mask of almost pure copper that has long
carried the name of a famous early king, Obalufon. Now in the Ife
museum, the mask resided for centuries in the oni’s palace. Several
very naturalistic heads have small holes above the forehead and
around the lips and jaw, where black beads were found. These sug-
gest that some heads were fitted with beaded crowns with veils, such
as those known among Yoruba kings today, and perhaps human hair
as well. Elaborate beadwork, a Yoruba royal prerogative, is also pres-
ent on the Ife king’s image in FIG. 15-6.
The hundreds of terracotta and copper-alloy heads, body parts
and fragments, animals, and ritual vessels from Ile-Ife attest to a re-
markable period in African art history, a period during which sensi-
tive, meticulously rendered, idealized naturalism prevailed. To this
day, works in this style stand in contrast to the vast majority of
African objects, which show the human figure in many different,
quite strongly conventionalized styles. Diversity of style in the art of
a continent as vast and ancient as Africa, however, should surprise
no one.Idealized Naturalism at Ile-Ife
ART AND SOCIETY
15-6King, from Ita
Yemoo (Ife), Nigeria,
11th to 12th century.
Zinc-brass, 1 61 – 2
high. Museum of Ife
Antiquities, Ife.
Unlike most African
sculptures, this royal
figure has a natural-
istically modeled torso
and facial features that
approach portraiture.
The head, however,
the locus of wisdom,
is disproportionately
large.1 in.