Ife

This authentic antique Benin bronze ancestral altar bell, cast in the form of a dome comes from Nigeria. The bell is surmounted with by a horseman and adorned by geometical shape. Tribal bells were used for a variety of purposes, such as proclaiming a sacred presence as well as a neutralizing hostile or harmful forces. Bells were used as tools of communication, as portable instruments for conveying important messages, and as a form or currency. The predominant method employed by the Edo in creating objects like the Bells, called “lost-wax casting, does not permit for a mold to be used more than once, a fact which accounts for the idiosyncrasies and lack of exact copies in known examples of Benin bronzes. Using the bells and rattle stuffs to call the ancestor’s spirit, the oba offered sacrifices to him and to the earth on the altar.

Made of 100% Bronze, copper alloy.

Model is W 9 – H 32 and weight 0.4 kg.

This vintage Oba warrior figure comes from Benin. The male character wears ornaments around the waist and neck. He also wears a hairstyle, showing his high rank in the benign society, we find in fact the frontal excrescence of the royal headdresses. The art of Benin, an art of court, it is closely associated with the king, known as Oba and exclusively for the use of the inhabitants of the royal palace and, most often, placed on altars dedicated by each new Oba . The tradition of Ife bronze course objects dates back to the 14th century. The Benin bronzes are probably among the most famous of the tribal art of Black Africa.

Made of 100% Bronze, copper alloy.

Model is W 8 – H 24 and weight 0.4 kg.

This miniature free-standing brass head cast in the lost wax technique originates from Ife, Nigeria. The religious and former royal centre of the Yoruba people. According to the oral traditions of the Yoruba people, Ife is the place where life and civilisation began. Ife is regarded as the legendary homeland of theYoruba-speaking peoples and its sacred ruler, the Ooni, is still revered as the descendant of the original creator gods.

Made of 100% Bronze, copper alloy.

Model is W 9 – H 18 and weight 0.3 kg.

This ravishingly beautiful head, staring ahead with unwavering calmness, perfectly proportioned, elegantly cast originate from Ife, Nigeria. It is believed to represent a portrait of a ruler known as an Ooni or Oni. It was likely made under the patronage of King Obalufon II whose famous naturalistic life size face mask in copper shares stylistic features with this work. The crown is topped by a crest, with a rosette and a plume. Ife was a wealthy city-state that flourished in what is now western Nigeria between the 12th and 15th centuries. Using a complicated lost-wax process that was hugely difficult to get right, their casted life-size bronze heads to an immaculate finish, Ife's sculptors repeated their immense creative achievement again and again. It presents a young warrior of irreducible nobility. As with most Ife heads, the warrior's face is covered with a dense network of lines that probably represent a set of tribal striations incised into the skin. Their effect, though, is never one of fierceness or bellicosity. Instead, the insistent patterns seem to bring an unshakable elegance to these taut, unwrinkled faces. The final effect is always of deep composure. Nobody is sure how the Ife heads were used. A few may have been worn as masks. Most seem to have been made to stand on altars at times of worship. Interestingly, each one is different enough to suggest that a degree of portraiture was intended.

Made of 100% Bronze, copper alloy.

Model is W 26 – H 54 and weight 1.3 kg