KATSINA ALA TERRACOTTA NOK SCULPTURE – NIGERIA Sculpture by Suki Fll

This ceramic depiction of a kneeling or sitting elder was made by the Nok people of Nigeria, at the very start of the first millennium AD. This piece is a classic of the Katsina Ala style and the technique is very unusual because of the manner in which coiled and subtractive sculpting methods were used to capture likenesses. The body is relatively naturalistic, shaped in a series of graceful curves into a sitting or kneeling position with one knee up and the other flexed against the floor. Little is known of the original function of the pieces, but theories include ancestor portrayal, grave markers, and charms to prevent crop failure, infertility, and illness. Also, based on the dome-shaped bases found on several figures, they could have been used as finials for the roofs of ancient structures.

The first Nok terracotta was discovered in 1928 by Colonel Dent Young, a co-owner of a mining partnership, near the village of Nok on the Jos Plateau in Nigeria. The terracotta was accidentally unearthed at a level of 24 feet from an alluvial tin mine... evidence of the oldest known figurative sculpture south of the Sahara.

Made of 100% terracotta.

Model is W 59 – H 17 and weight 2.3 kg.

Related themes

NokNigeriaTerracottaAfricanartEthnographic