Ife head

This free-standing brass head cast in the lost wax technique was discovered in 1938 at Wunmonije Compound in Ife, Nigeria. It was found by accident during house building works together with sixteen other brass and copper heads and the upper half of a brass figure.

The identification and function of the head, in common with the others discovered at this site, remain uncertain. Its elaborate beaded headdress, possibly representing a crown, suggest that it was associated with an Ooni, a ruler of Ife. It was made between 1200 - 1400 CE.

According to the oral traditions of the Yoruba people, Ife is the place where life and civilisation began. Ife is regarded as the legendary homeland of the Yoruba-speaking peoples and its sacred ruler, the Ooni, is still revered as the descendant of the original creator gods. Ife is located in Osun State in modern south-western Nigeria.

Ife began to develop as a city-state in the late first millennium, around AD 800 and became a leading political, economic and spiritual centre in the lower Niger region. Between 1100 and 1400 it flourished as a commercial centre with access to the lucrative trade networks along the Niger River.

The art of Ife has produced a large corpus of sculptural works in terracotta, stone, brass and copper which were found at different sites in the city. Among these artworks the representations of humans are striking for their naturalistic style. This life-like modelling is unique in Africa and when objects from Ife were first presented to the western world they were compared with the classical traditions of Ancient Greece and Rome. It was even suggested that such heads were evidence that Ife was the site of the lost civilization of Atlantis. In fact the sculpture of Ife is today rightly seen as one of the highest achievements of African art and culture.
 

Ife head free-standing brass head cast in the lost wax technique

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