A CHARMING TERRACOTTA HEAD OF A WOMAN, NOK CULTURE, NIGERIA, 500 BC – 200 AD
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve

Published:
1. Kristian Fenzl and Armand Duchâteau, Afrika-Kopfskulpturen, 1998, Kunsthalle Krems, Krems an der Donau, p. 71, Tafel 37.
2. Kristian Fenzl and Armand Duchâteau, Afrika Ethno-Kunst, 1997, Bergbau Museum Klagenfurt, p. 65, no. 51.

Exhibited:
1. Kunsthalle Krems, Afrika-Kopfskulpturen, Krems an der Donau, 26 July 1998 – 18 October 1998.
2. Museum der Völker (formerly Haus der Völker, Museum für Kunst und Ethnographie), Schwaz, Tyrol, Austria, NOK-2500 Jahre Hochkultur in Afrika, 19 May - 30 August 2006
3. Bergbau Museum, Afrika Ethno-Kunst, Klagenfurt, 1997

Scientific Analysis Report: An old TL test, dating from 14 January 1997, sets the firing date to ca. 2000 years ago, consistent with the dating above. A copy accompanies this lot.

The hollowed head with an oblong face, set with a pair of triangular eyes centered by deep-set pupils below bow-shaped eyebrows, open mouth revealing teeth and framed by pouting lips, her nose pierced with a nose ring, the face flanked by two slits forming the ears, and the tall forehead surmounted by an elaborate coiffure consisting of three rows of large hemispheres.

Provenance: Galerie Walu, Zurich, 1994. Collection of Gerhard Merzeder (b. 1963), internationally published and acclaimed fashion and portrait photographer, Vienna, Austria, assembled since the 1980s. The family-owned Galerie Walu has been specialized in cultures of sub-Saharan Africa since 1957, supported by decades of hands-on experience in the African art market.
Condition: Very good condition with expected old wear, signs of weathering and erosion, few natural cracks, obvious losses, possibly with small touchups to the hair, and two holes drilled for sample-taking to the back of the head and the neck.

Weight: 3.3 kg (excl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 22 cm (excl. stand)

With a modern stand. (2)

The Nok terracottas are among the earliest known large-scale figurative sculptures in Africa, only preceded by Egyptian sculptural art. Sculptures of this kind were first discovered in 1943 by Bernard Fagg near the northern Nigerian village of Nok, after which the culture that produced them was named.

Most Nok sculpture is hollow and coil-built like pottery. Finely worked to a resilient consistency from local clays and gravel, the millennia-long endurance of these ancient objects is a testament to the technical ability of their makers. This is not to say that Nok sculpture has survived unchanged by time. The slip of many Nok terracottas has eroded, leaving a grainy, pocked exterior that does not reflect their original smooth appearance. Most of the Nok sculpture found consists of what appear to be portrait heads and bodies fragmented by damage and age. The recovered portions of the baked clay bodies that have survived show that they were sculpted in standing, sitting, and genuflecting postures.

Although every Nok sculpture is unique, certain stylistic traits are found throughout the corpus of known work. Triangular eyes and perforated pupils, noses, mouths, and ears combine to depict men and women with bold, abstracted features. Perhaps the most striking aspects of Nok sculptures are the elaborately detailed hairstyles and jewelry that adorn many of the figures. The variety, inventiveness, and beauty of their design is a beguiling record of cultivated devotion to body ornamentation.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related terracotta head, Nok culture, 1000 BC – 300 AD, 24.8 cm tall, in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 2002.27.16.