Ife Female Portrait Head

Ife, southwest Nigeria, somewhere between the 11th and 15th centuries. Clay, and an artist with a very fine eye for a face.

Sculptors there made a substantial number of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic works from terracotta, from life-sized heads to figurines some twenty inches high. Some faces carry delicately rendered vertical etchings, generally thought to represent scarification marks. Many such works are associated with shrines, though their original function can be hard to know.

This female portrait head, terra cotta, dated 1000 to 1400 CE, stands just over seven inches tall.

A face from a very long time ago. It keeps its reasons to itself.