A RARE AND IMPORTANT COPPER ALLOY HEAD OF A KING, IFE, YORUBA PEOPLE, 14TH-16TH CENTURY

Scientific Analysis Report: A metallurgical analysis report issued by Antiques Analytics – Institute of Scientific Authenticity Testing on 21 April 2001, report number AA 01-11704, sets the alloy date of the sample taken to the 16^th century or earlier, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.
Alloy composition range: The alloy analytics report written and signed by Dr. R. Neunteufel indicates an alloy composition of 86% copper, 7.8% zinc, 0.28% nickel, 3.4 % lead, 3.9% tin, <0.02% arsenic, 0.06% antimony, <0.01% aluminum, and <0.01% cadmium.

Nigeria. Finely cast, the commemorative head with naturalistic facial features, modeled with a pensively serene expression, marked by narrow eyes with lightly lifted lateral aspects, a high brow, gently rounded cheeks, an angular jaw, a well-shaped nose, and gently parted full lips, all above a tall neck incised with horizontal folds.

The face is covered with incised striations, representing scarifications, stretching around the jowls then up the forehead into the line formed by the edge of the cap which covers the unadorned skull. Pierced apertures follow the edge of the hairline, with four additional holes puncturing the neck, and two more through the ears.

Provenance:
- See the lot essay for an image of 10 Wúnmọníjẹ̀ Compound heads taken at the British Museum in 1947. The present lot possibly corresponds to the third head from the right in this group; note in particular the characteristic large loss at the top and the closely corresponding facial features.
- A private collection in Ife, Nigeria.
- Collection of Volker Schneider, Germany, acquired from the above, around 1990.
- Collection of Dr. Andreas Lindner, acquired from the above in the late 1990s.
- A letter of confirmation written and signed by Chief Dr. Omotoso Eluyemi, Director General and Chief Executive of the National Commission for Museums & Monuments, Nigeria, attached with images of the present lot, dated 24 October 2003, confirms that the present lot originates from an ancient (“Ile Owuro”) village in Ife and has been “private property for so many years”. A copy of this document accompanies the lot.
Dr. Omotoso Eluyemi (1939-2006) was born in Ife and became the first Yoruba scholar to earn a Ph.D. in archaeology, at the Academy of Sciences, Moscow, in 1979. He served as Curator in the Federal Department of Antiquities, Lagos in 1969-70, and later pioneered archaeological studies at Obafemi Awolowo University, founding its Department of Archaeology in 1984 and serving as its Chair until 1989. A member of the World Archaeological Congress and long-standing Editorial Board member of the West African Journal of Archaeology, he later established the Center for Yoruba Cultural Studies and Elusope Temple of Deities. In 2000, he was appointed by President Olusegun Obasanjo to head the National Commission for Museums and Monuments.
Volker Schneider is a German collector and dealer specializing in African art, active in the field for over three decades. Alongside his work as a documentary filmmaker for German television, he established close contacts with officials and prominent figures in several African countries, including Nigeria and Ghana. Works he acquired are today held in major German museum collections, among them Nok figures in the Dresden Museum of Ethnology.
Dr. Andreas Lindner is a distinguished private collector of African, Oceanic, and Native American art. From the 1990s onwards, he and his wife Kathrin assembled an important collection, part of which was presented in a single-owner sale at Sotheby’s Paris on 8 June 2007, achieving a total of over EUR 6,000,000. Works from their collection have also been exhibited at the Museum der Völker in Schwaz, Tyrol. Dr. Lindner further established the Stiftung für Außereuropäische Kunst, a foundation dedicated to fostering respect and understanding for cultures beyond Europe.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear and casting irregularities, such as pitting, small recesses, and warping. Few surface scratches, minute nicks, light dings, small losses, minor fissures, a larger loss at the top. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown, dark patina.

Weight: 3.8 kg
Dimensions: Height 29.5 cm

According to Yoruba oral traditions, the history of Ife unfolds in three major phases. The first of these is known as Ife Oodaye, or Ile Owuro, referred to as “the land of the earliest days”. The inhabitants of Ife Oodaye were believed to be powerful giants with mystic abilities. This ancient era ended tragically due to a great flood. The second phase is named Ife Ooyelagbo, known as "Ife of the survivors", which followed the flood and saw the rise of numerous autonomous communities, each ruled by its own Oba and council of chiefs. The third era is known as Ife Oodaye Oduduwa and marked the emergence of Oduduwa and the eventual unification of these scattered communities into a centralized kingdom.

Ife began to develop as a city-state in the late first millennium (around 800 AD). It became a leading political, economic and spiritual center in the lower Niger region. Between 1100 and 1400 it flourished as a commercial center with access to the lucrative trade networks along the Niger River. Today, Ife is regarded as the legendary homeland of the Yoruba-speaking peoples. Even today, its ruler is thought of as the descendant of the original creator gods.

The artists of Ife developed a refined and highly naturalistic sculptural tradition in stone, terracotta, brass, and copper and created a style unlike anything in Africa at the time. The technical sophistication of the casting process is matched by the artworks’ enduring beauty. The human figures portray a wide cross-section of Ife society and include depictions of youth and old age, health and disease, suffering, and serenity. According to Yoruba myth, Ife was the center of the creation of the world and all mankind. Ife was home to many sacred groves located in the city’s forests. Two groves in particular have revealed numerous sculptures: the Ore Grove with its stone monoliths and human and animal figures, and the Iwinrin Grove, which is associated with terracotta heads and fragments from life-size figures.

In January 1938, laborers clearing topsoil for house foundations struck metal in the Wunmonije Compound at Ife, in present-day south-western Nigeria. The accidental discovery led to the recovery of seventeen naturalistic heads in brass and copper, along with the broken upper half of a royal figure. A related cast example is preserved in the British Museum (registration no. CRS.12). The precise identification and function of these heads remain debated. They unmistakably represent individuals of rank and authority, most plausibly an Ooni (king) of Ife, yet whether they served as commemorative royal portraits, ritual effigies, or formed part of a larger shrine context has not been conclusively established.

The finds from the Wunmonije Compound were published in 1938-1939 and created a sensation in the western world. It was initially assumed that these beautiful sculptures could not have been made in Africa by African artists. The lifelike modeling was compared with the classical traditions of Ancient Greece and Rome. It was even suggested that these heads were evidence that Ife was the site of the legendary lost civilization of Atlantis as described by the Greek philosopher, Plato. The sculptures from Ife are now rightly seen as one of the highest achievements of African art and culture.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related head of a king, Ife, illustrated by Kristian Fenzl and Armand Duchâteau, Afrika-Kopfskulpturen, 1998, Kunsthalle Krems, Krems an der Donau, p. 78-79, pl. 41, and on the cover of the catalog. Compare a closely related plaster cast of a bronze Ife head, preserved in the British Museum, registration number CRS.6, the original discovered in the Wunmonije Compound close to the Ooni's palace at Ife, and dated 14^th-16^th century, now in the collections of the National Museum Ife, Nigeria, accession number 38.1.4. Compare the famous Ife Head, dated 1300-1450, 35 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number Af1939,34.1.