 |
Nigeria, Ife (Yoruba) |
This
shrine head was created during a period of artistic and cultural development
from the twelfth to the fourteenth century in the Yoruba kingdom of Ife,
an area that is now part of southwestern Nigeria in Africa. According
to tradition, life and civilization began for the Yoruba people in the
ancient city of Ile-Ife.1 Ife remained the Yoruba
religious and political center until the fifteenth century. The rich folklore
of the people served as a point of unity for a region of diverse city-states
that often warred against one another for control.2
Because the Yoruba city-states were often at war, they began to form enclosed settlements for defensive purposes before the thirteenth century. Densely populated cities surrounded by agricultural lands became characteristic of Yoruba civilization. City walls and gates and a protected, settled population fostered the development of terra-cotta sculpture and other crafts that expressed the prosperity and importance of Ife. From life-size figures to very small figurines, Ife terra-cottas took the form of freestanding heads, animals, figure-shaped vessels, and many other subjects.
Very little archaeological data exist to teach us about Ife culture and the origins of its art. Other heads have been found that were made from brass imported from North Africa or Europe. Because of its great cost, however, brass was most likely cast only by authority of the king and used for royal ceremonies. Persons of elite status may have used terra-cotta images in rituals instead. Of the shrine heads that have been excavated, terra-cotta sculptures are more numerous than metal castings.
The Yoruba people still settle in populous urban centers, with various family groups living in areas surrounding the compound of a chief or the palace of a king. Local ARTISANS continue to create works of art to celebrate the gods and serve the court.
Notes
1. There are several variations on the Yoruba creation story. In one version, the god Oduduwa descended from the heavens on an iron chain holding a chicken and a gourd filled with dirt. He threw the dirt upon the waters that covered the earth and then placed the chicken upon it. The chicken scattered the dirt around and created the first dry land. Oduduwa stood on the land, called Ile-Ife ("Home-Spread"), and became its first priest and ruler, or ONI. Later, his sixteen sons established other great Yoruba kingdoms, which retained allegiance to Ife through the oni.
2. Henry John Drewal and John Pemberton III, Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with The Center for African Art, 1989), p. 45.
Key ideas.
Where does it come from?
What does it look like?
How was it used?
How was it made?
Discussion questions.
Additional resources.
Select another piece.
