Female head with six Nok buns, Nigeria
Terracotta
H. 22 cm
Dating : 1500 BC (certificate of thermoluminescence ASA Ref. 38.15.25 TL.306.245).
The refinement of the Nok sculptural figuration appears through the refined features of this female face. The ideal of beauty thus signified, sublime artistic witness of an ephemeral civilization that appeared in Nigeria 1,000 years before Christ and mysteriously disappeared.
A timeless passage of history, this work with its regular features and elongated face bears witness to the technical mastery of a civilization that was very mature in its time.
Her elaborate hairstyle is composed of round buns of equal size, her linear profile, her arched eyebrows treated in slight relief, and the roundness of her headdress give her softness and serenity. A representation of a rare elegance. How not to think of Modigliani's portraits, Zadkine's and Brancusi's sculptures?
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