Nok Terracotta Animal Head

This striking piece was made by the Nok of Nigeria, perhaps the single most important group – from an artistic point of view, at least – of Subsaharan Africa. As is usual with Nok pieces, it is excessively stylized. The initial impression is vaguely serpentine in the sinuous outlines of the head, but the presence of ears, a distinct nose and ordered ungulate-like teeth count against this possibility. It also bears a resemblance to a rodent head, although this is frankly unlikely. The pierced eye is traditionally Nok, although the oval outline thereof is unusual. The function of the piece is unclear and does not compute with known purposes (see below); it is hollow-based and may have been designed to fit over a textile of fibre body, or a piece of furniture or other object. It is certainly exceptionally unusual, and is the only such piece that we have seen.

The astonishing artistry and early date of Nok pieces makes them among the most important artworks on the African continent, and they occupy a major position for analysts of African cultural systematic as well as in terms of their sheer aesthetic value. Currently, comparatively little is known of the Nok culture. Flourishing between 900 BC and 200 AD, the Nok “culture” is technically a misnomer, for the artistic traditions it represents are the only common characteristics shared by different Iron-Age agriculturally-based communities that differed in all other respects. Their artworks, however, constitute the most sophisticated and formalized early African artistic tradition outside Egypt. Technically, they are very unusual because of the manner in which coiled and subtractive sculpting methods were used to capture likenesses. Aesthetically, they are both naturalistic and expressionist, with highly distinctive elongated forms, triangular eyes, pierced pupils/nostrils and elaborate hairstyles.

Substyles of the Nok tradition include the Jemaa Style, the Katsina Ala Style (elongated heads) and the Sokoto Style (elongated monobrow foreheads, lending a severe expression to the face) and random variants such as the Herm Statues of Kuchamfa (simplified cylindrical figures topped with normal heads) and the “standard” three-dimensional standing figures, which subscribe to the Jemaa style. This piece is most like the Katsina Ala style, but it is not by any means typical of other known pieces. The function of the art is unclear, although the care with which they are executed has led some to claim they represent nobility, or perhaps ancestors to which obeisance and sacrifices were offered.

The largest ones are believed to have been placed in structures that had ceremonial or ritual importance at the time, thus occupying a prominent social position within the community. Smaller ones may have been personal or domestic talismans or deities/spirits. However, when it comes to the identity of the people portrayed in the art, rather more guesswork is required. Men, women and fantastical personages are all portrayed. Portraiture of important people – such as chiefs and associated figures – might be one possibility. One might also argue that strong feminine or masculine traits imply that the sculptor was emphasizing the importance of fertility or virility, and all the collateral benefits it implies (success in agriculture etc). Fantastical sculptures are likely to represent unusual characters such as spirits, mythical figures (such as non-historical ancestors) or shamans. A zoomorphic piece such as this is even more mysterious than usual, and may refer either to a character from Nok mythology, or a talisman of some sort.