Ife Bronze Head

Timeline

1. c. 1100–1110Ife · NigeriaCourt artisans of Ife used the lost-wax method to cast bronze and brass portraits, producing works with highly realistic faces and refined headdresses, possibly used for ancestor worship or royal ceremonies, marking the maturation of metal art in West Africa.
2. c. 1200–1400Ife · NigeriaIn 1938, archaeological finds by Willy Fagg and others uncovered a large number of bronze heads and busts, stylistically unified yet individually distinctive, becoming exemplars of naturalistic sculpture in the history of African art and influencing the later Benin bronze tradition.