Head with a Beaded Crown and Plume

Yoruba People

British Museum

12th-15th Century

One of the supreme achievements of West African Art, this head of an unidentified ruler of Ife, religious centre of the Yoruba in Southern Nigeria, wears a crown painted red to represent carnelian beads. It has small holes surrounding the mouth, probably intended for inserting hair to depict a beard and a moustache. The bronze was cast by the cire perdue (lost wax) method and it was probably made for use at funerary ceremonies, when it may have been attached to a wooden figure.

• Medium: leaded brass - green patina with traces of red paint
• Dimensions: 36cm
• Art Fund Grant: £100 ( Total: £100)
• ArtFunded in: 1939
• Vendor: Anonymous

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