Art History: Ife Art

Have you ever heard of Ife Art? Well, if you haven't, get ready to read about one of the most iconic arts from West Africa; Nigeria to be precise.

INTRODUCTION

Ile-Ife, also known as Ife, is an ancient city of the Yoruba tribe in what is the modern-day Osun state of Nigeria. Historical evidence dates this holy city's origin to as far back as 500 BC.

But we're here for the art.

The art was created within the 13th-14th century, ruling out any possibility of European influence, as many still claim so today.

The media used were bronze, copper, clay (terracotta), stone, and brass.

The art technique was believed to have been developed by the traditional ruler of the place, Ooni Obalufon II, who first brought bronze casting skill to Ife. The process was known as the Lost Wax process (now known by some as the investment process today), first used by the Hittites, although it is likely that the people of Ife developed this on their own without foreign interference.

Basically, the lost wax process was making a mold, putting wax in it, adding another mold on it, pinning the two, and then creating vents for molten metal to be poured in and gas to escape. To get a more detailed explanation, try here

https://www.britannica.com/technology/investment-casting

The common insinuation is that when an Oba died, his head was sent to the sculptors who would create this head for decorative as well as religious purposes.

SO HOW WERE THE HEADS FOUND?

As usual, the European explorers found them.

The heads were unearthed during house construction work at the Wunmonije compound. As usual, the Federal Government swooped in to prevent the heads from being transported anyhow, but a few had already found their way abroad, like this beauty here, which now resides at the British Museum.

The quality and realism of the work undermined the opinion Westerners had of African art at the time, so Frobenius and some pigheaded scholars suggested that an ancient Greek civilization was responsible for teaching the locals there.

They even went as far as suggesting this Greek civilization might be affiliated with the Lost City of Atlantis.

It shows just how prejudiced they were - they didn't want to admit that the African artists had reached a refind level of realism in their work. Boohoo, shame on you!

It has been since proven that this was purely an African work anyway.

After 1938, the Ooni of Ife started to collect these artifacts was due when they were found during other construction work. He stored them in his palace for safekeeping, as was due.

WHAT IS THE ART ALL ABOUT?

Well, it was mostly made for dignitaries and rulers, meaning that it was a quality product for the elites. However, there were quite a few made of couriers and even slaves. So perhaps it m=was made for a procession of the Ooni's entourage? We may never know. The heads were made to be quite big because it is believed that the Ase, the soul or life force, is located in the head.

The works were very naturalistic, I myself was surprised when I first heard about them. Although, there are some holes on the heads, which should be the holes opened for pouring in of the molten metal, although some could have been holes for attachment of hair? (LOL, Who knows what the artists had in mind?)

They also had facial scarification - the long striated lines on the faces. That may forever remain a mystery because those do not resemble the tribal marks of the Ife people. So I guess this unjust had to have a little bit of mystery attached to it.

One of the terracotta works is shown below in all its glory. This one seems to have feminine features, like the style of the headdress and the shape of the face and eyes. Again, you have to admit they are pretty damn good.

Also, most of the heads were attached to human bodies as fragments have been found. We may never know what exactly happened to dismember them that way, but let's enjoy this one that is complete.

MODERN-DAY

The seal of Obafemi Awolowo University located in Ile-Ife has one of the Ife heads in it.

Also, Black Awareness Day, 2017 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, was celebrated with a reproduction of one of the heads.

I hope you enjoyed this! See you later!