LARGE NOK FIGURE
NIGERIA, 500 B.C. - 200 A.D.
£1,890
Auction: 31 May 2023 at 15:00 BST
Description
terracotta, the male figure shown bearded, with elaborate coiffure, the right arm (now lost) is raised, with the left arm placed on the bent knee
Dimensions
61cm tall
Provenance
Provenance:
Cannes Encheres February 2012, lot 474
Private United Kingdom collection, acquired at the above
Footnote
Note:
Accompanied by a thermoluminescence test report conducted by Oxford Authentication
The Nok culture was one of the earliest developed civilizations to arise in West Africa. It existed in modern-day Nigeria from around 500 B.C. to 200 A.D. It appears to have been agrarian in nature and is today best known for the high quality terracotta sculpture it produced, of which the present piece is a fine example.
Nok sculptures have been found across a vast area covering over 30,000 square miles, suggesting this civilisation, or at least the material culture it produced, was exceedingly large.