Galerie Peter Herrmann

Ancient Art from Africa - Ife

When the first Ife head was found by Leo Frobenius in 1910, the surprise at its quality and craftsmanship was so great that the work was attributed not to Africans but to a Greek colony. However, the physiognomy and symbolism clearly point to an African origin. Since Willett's publications, at the latest, no one has doubted its African origin.

The physiognomy of this Ife head clearly shows the high standards of realism demanded of the foundries. This is particularly evident in the ears, but also in the eyes and the softly modelled nose. The ears are no longer merely suggested, as in many Benin heads, but are fully sculpted. The holes in the mouth and cheeks that are otherwise so typical are missing from this object. They are only punched out at the neck for attachment to a wooden torso. In addition to the missing holes, the elaborately decorated headdress crowned with a typical Ife cap is also striking.

There are various theories about the narrow line pattern on the face of this delicately shaped head with its realistic features. Some believe that these are decorative scars; others think that the stripes represent a veil that was attached to the crown. It is one of two Ife heads in the Paul Garn Collection.

The high quality of the Ife heads long led to the assumption that the origins of the bronze casting tradition in West Africa could be found in Ife. However, as ethnologist Stefan Eisenhofer conclusively proves in some of his articles, this theory of origin has by no means been proven. The tradition could just as easily have originated in Benin, because unlike the area around Ife, ancient workshops can be traced back around 1,000 years in Benin.

Compare with:
Frank WILLETT: Ife. Metropole afrikanischer Kunst. Bergisch Gladbach 1967, S. 36.
Barbara PLANKENSTEINER (Hg.): Benin. Könige und Rituale. Höfische Kunst aus Nigeria. Wien 2007, S. 272.
Stefan Eisenhofer: Ife und die Chronologie der Benin-Bronzen

Paul Garn Collection