Provenance: From the collection of Jerald Barnes, a former US diplomat who collected in West Africa. A written provenance statement is included with your purchase.
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Overview
A tall terracotta head of a bearded man in the Sokoto tradition of north-west Nigeria, set on a dark stepped block base. The head is long and narrow and wears a close-fitting cap that ends in a pointed knob at the top. The back of the cap is incised with a grid of fine lines. The eyes are narrow pierced slits under a straight brow, above a slim nose and an open mouth with full lips. A flat, squared beard projects from the chin, and the ears stand out from the head and are pierced. Ridged bands circle the neck like a collar, and a rounded stub remains at each shoulder. The orange-red clay is speckled with small pale mineral grains, with patches of yellow and grey-green on the surface. It suits a shelf, desk, mantel or a collection of African terracotta.
About Age and Authenticity
This piece comes from a collection lot (ex Barnes) in which a companion piece was thermoluminescence (TL) tested by Artemis Testing Lab in February 2021, with an estimated age of about 2,200 years (±350). This piece itself has not been tested. We make no claim about its age and sell it as is. Buyers are welcome to arrange their own TL testing.
Background
Sokoto terracottas take their name from Sokoto State in the far north-west of Nigeria, where they have been found. They are generally dated to about 500 BCE to 200 CE, roughly the same period as the better-known Nok terracottas of central Nigeria and the Katsina terracottas found between the two regions. Together these three traditions are the earliest known figurative sculpture in West Africa.
Sokoto has been far less studied than Nok. Few pieces come from recorded excavations, so much less is known about the people who made them and how the sculptures were used. One common suggestion is that they stood on or near graves. The style is plainer and more severe than Nok: the forms are simplified, the hair and jewellery are less detailed, and the faces have a heavy brow over narrow eyes, which gives a stern look. Many of the heads are bearded men. Like Nok pieces, they are hollow and built by hand from coarse clay, and the original surface has usually worn to a grainy texture.
This head shows these features: narrow slit eyes under a straight brow, a projecting beard, pierced ears, a cap with incised lines and ringed bands at the neck. It is a fragment of a larger figure and is unmarked. It is from the collection of Jerald Barnes, an American collector who lived in West Africa for over a decade.
Condition
A fragment broken from a larger figure, with an uneven old break below the neck. Both shoulders end in broken stubs. A fine line runs from below the nose through the upper lip, and there are dark reddish-brown marks on the neck. The surface is weathered, with patches of yellow and grey-green deposits, mainly on the forehead and cap. No repairs are visible. The stand has light marks. Please see all photos.
Dimensions & Weight
The head alone is about 9.5 x 4.5 x 4 inches (H x W x D), and about 14 inches high on its stand. The head and stand together weigh about 6 lb 0.7 oz.
Shipping
Free standard shipping within the US, packed securely.
