cast;
figure
- Museum number
- Af1927,0309.1
- Description
-
Cast; male head made of plaster. Head has broad nose and protruding lips; eyes bulge slightly and eyebrows are prominently depicted as relief arcs. Head is set at angle to neck which is hidden by flat collar with raised moulding along each edge. Part of neck is missing. Hair is shown as smooth (shaved?) on right proper and cross-hatched on left proper. Top of hair has broken away. Hole in top of head. U-shaped outline painted in brown-grey from eyebrow and eye at right proper to jawline (represents possible damage to surface of original?). Cast is painted brown inside and outside. Mounted on black painted base.
- Production date
-
1910-1927 (cast)
-
16thC-17thC (original)
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- The original terracotta head is from a half life size figure collected in Ife by Frobenius in 1910. It is currently in the collections of the Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin (registration number: III C 27533).
Willett (2004) suggests that the original head (T713) dates from the Post-Classical period (16th - 17th century) in Ife due to certain stylistic elements. The hairstyle probably represents that of a court messenger.
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- Good; slight chips to nose and right proper ear.
- Acquisition date
- 1927
- Acquisition notes
- Af1927,0309.1 to 6 are casts given by Leo Frobenius of terracotta heads that he had excavated near Ife in 1910, and which are now in Berlin.
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Af1927,0309.1