West Africa, Northern Nigeria, Nok, ca. 1500 BCE to 500 CE. An abstract terracotta figure, featuring primarily the head and torso, molded in a cylindrical shape. The presumably male figure has a characteristically enlarged head with a high brow, wide, angular eyes, with impressed pupils and nostrils. One arm is upraised toward her cheek and the other rests across her stomach. The form was hand built by a coil building technique and details were attained by scraping away from the surface, the pieces were then baked in the sun before oven fired in a low temperature oven. Nok is the name of a village on top of the archeological / find site where many of such sculptures have been found, and the ancient culture that created these pieces was named after the site. The Nok civilization appeared around 1500 BCE and mysteriously vanished around 500 CE. Size: 5" L x 2.5" Diameter (12.7 cm x 6.4 cm)

Provenance: private Healy collection, Studio City, California, USA, acquired 1995 to 2015; ex-private Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA collection

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#178464

Loss to lower part of the body and chips. Surface abrasions and some softening to details.