NOK TERRACOTTA HEAD 8, Nigeria
Restored
NOK, TERRACOTTA HEAD NO. 7, 12.5", $1,400, Nigeria ©
Tim Hamill
The oldest and most impressive group of terracottas in "Africa
Unearthed" are the powerful and elegant heads and figures of the Nok.
Little is known of the Nok civilization (ca. 500 B.C. - 200 A.D.) They were
discovered in 1943 during mining near the village of Nok (hence the name),
in Nigeria. Bernard Fagg, William Fagg's brother, did much of the early
work on these discoveries. Over the years we have acquired many Nok pieces,
varying in size, quality and amount and type of repairs made. Many have
been tested at Bortolot Daybreak Corp. in Conn. and have papers documenting
their age by thermoluminescence. More information will be available in the
gallery and on our website. Katsina and Sokoto pieces, of which we have
only a few, are from the same period, even more recently discovered, and
also from Nigeria. All are drilled and mounted on black iron bases.
NOTICE: Several large pieces ( 1,3,5,7,8 and 28) were
not tested because an initial heated probe revealed a surface layer mixture
of glue and ground up terracotta. Therefore they cannot be considered authentic
and accordingly are priced much lower than those that tested authentic.
Interestingly enough, this surface restoration usually indicates the presence
of an authentic core. Complete fakes made entirely of terracotta, have no
need of a composite surface.
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