Ife Terracota and History

Tearracota a type of earthenware, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic uses include vessels (notably flower pots), water and waste water pipes, bricks, and surface embellishment in building construction, along with sculpture such as the Terracotta Army and Greek terracotta figurines. The term is also used to refer to items made out of this material and to its natural, brownish orange color, which varies considerably. In archaeology and art history, "terracotta" is often used of objects not made on a potter's wheel, such as figurines, where objects made on the wheel from the same material, possibly even by the same person, are called pottery; the choice of term depending on the type of object rather than the material

Ife terracotta works constitute a large and varied corpus that encompasses sculptures and vessels depicting human, animal, and other-worldly subjects. These works alter in dimensions from almost lifedimensions, full-length figures to minute figurines only six inches high, and range  naturalism to abstract forms. The original use of these works is unclear. Terracottas are usually affiliated with shrines but most of these parts have been discovered in secondary sites where they have been integrated into contemporary ritual, making it tough to understand their initial function. Works found both near and far from the centrally located castle suggest that the art objects were utilised not just by royalty but by a broad kind of persons for varied purposes. amidst the numerous objects discovered are terracotta lids depicting animals that appear to have been divined to supply a lasting recollection of a successful ceremonial.



From the point of view of the cultural history of Africa, Ile-Ife was an early centre of urban tradition. The dynasty of Oduduwa and other predynastic system before it centered on the Obatala, Orisa Nla are within a time span of one thousand years or more.

The art of Ife combines terracotta, bronze and stone sculptures; these are done in life sizes or naturalistic styles.

The Ife terracuttas represents kings, Queens and commoners (even criminal and victims of human sacrifices) all these are date to between 900AD and 1400AD. As in Nok terracottas which depict animals (rams, elephants, hippos), articulation of beauty through body and facial markings, dress for the body and depiction of kingly crowns bracelets and emblems of royal and cultural authority.

Ife goes beyond its terracotta’s medium the copper, brass/bronze tradition of metal casting by the lost – wax or cire-perdue method has received extensive publicity.

Also prominent among Ife corpus is the stone sculptures. These include obelisks, representations of humans and fish, stools and enigmatic of cult objects, the Ife stone sculpture has northern dimensions especially in the little studied collections from Esure, some 100km. south of north-east of Ile-Ife sculpture have very important extensions in relation to arts of Benin and Owo.

The art-historical importance of Ife works lies in their highly evolved and characteristic sculptural method, described alternately as naturalistic, portraitlike, and humanistic. These encompass human heads and figures depicting idealized crowned royalty and their assistants, as well as images of unhealthy, deformed, or captive individuals. The carefully rendered upright facial striations that emerge on numerous of the sculptures may represent scarification patterns.

The naturalistic method was developed first in terracotta and subsequently transferred to other newspapers. In addition to the large body of terracotta works is a much smaller number of copper and brass heads and full-body figurines, encompassing the unique seated figure of a man found in the village of Tada. In Yoruba tradition, women are the clayworkers. They make both sacred and secular pieces and may have been the creators of the archaeological terracottas. Men are conventionally the sculptors of pebble, steel, and timber. The production of bronze cast works, engaging both terracotta and metalworking, may have been collaborative efforts.

Ifea - History, Art & Culture

Ile Ife or Ife is an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria. The meaning of the word "ife" in Yoruba is "expansion"; "Ile-Ife" is therefore in reference to the myth of origin "The Land of Expansion". Due to this fact, the city is commonly regarded as the cradle of not just the Yoruba culture, but all of humanity as well, especially by the followers of the Yoruba faith.Evidence of habitation at the site has been discovered to date back to as early as 600 BCE. It is located in the present day Osun State. Ife is about 218 kilometres (135 mi) northeast of Lagos

Ancient African historians claim that it was in Ile-Ife that civilisation began. This amazing town is the birth-place and some say the spiritual home of the Yoruba tribe. It is very neatly placed between the Niger River and the Atlantic Ocean.



It was the people of Ile-Ife that taught the Benin peoples the art of sculpting in bronze and terracotta. The ancient sculptors of Ife are world famous for their bronze and terracotta figures.

Ile-ife is of course most famous for its amazing bronze heads. These incredible works of art are in museums and private collections all over the world. Art historians are without doubt that it equals anything found in Ancient Rome or works of European antiquity. The manner in which they were made is still a source of mystery to many, To the ancient Yorubas however this was a skill that ws handed down from generation to generation. The survival of these works links us to a great and ancient past with echoes of deep wisdom and intelligence.

An anthropologist by the name of Leo Frobenius discovered 13 of these bronze heads in Ife in 1910. He couldnt bring himself to believe that these amazing works of art were made by Africans and instead declared that he had discovered the Lost City of Atlantis.

The ancient peoples of Ile-Ife also created tools for farming,hunting,cooking and agriculture. An important advancement in civilisation is without doubt the art of tool-making. It elevates Man above beast,brings him from the age of barbarism into the Iron Age. Apart from tool-making Ile-Ife was also home to bead-making,metal and wood industries.

Herodotus, the father of History who lived from 4824 BC until 424 BC said about Ife: " According to history there were five ancient cities in Africa between 3000 and 1000 BC of which one was Ife".

History has often been defined as the story of the past and that which we come to know as the result of an enquiry. The ancient history of Ile-Ife is still being written and discovered. It is our hope here at Virgo Foundation that many will undertake enquiries of their own to know more about the history of Ile-Ife and in so doing learn more about the vast culture of the Yoruba people. The result,we are sure,would be an enlightening one.

Ile-Ife is a town steeped in mystery and myth. All around the town are dotted mysterious stone sculptures and obelisks, the most famous being the stone obelisk known as Oranmiyan's staff. The Yoruba race cite Ile-Ife in oral traditions as the original birth-place of mankind,the primal Eden as it were. Yoruba culture and religion can be found in South America, Brazil, Cuba and the United States of America.

Some historians have claimed that the Yorubas have a cultural link with the ancient Mayan civilization. They claim that intrepid adventurers set sail from Ife and discovered the Americas before Colombus. Evidence of this can be seen in the various stone heads with decidedly negroid features found in many parts of Mexico and Peru.

Lady Lugard, wife of Lord Lugard who was Governor-General of Nigeria during the colonial era,wrote a book titled "A Tropical Dependency". Here is a very apt passage from the book: "When the history of the Negroland comes to be written in detail,it may be found that the kingdoms lying towards the eastern end of the Sudan were the home of races who inspired rather than races who recieved. If this should prove to be the case and the civilised world be forced to recognize in a black people the fount of its original enlightenement,it may happen that we shall have to revise entirely our view of the black races and regard those who now exist as the decadent representatives of an almost forgotten era, rather than as the embryonic possibility of an era yet to come".

What You Need To Know And Never Known About Esie Museum - Soapstone

The town was founded by prince Baragbon circa 1770. The dialect of Yoruba spoke in Esie is predominantly Igbonna.

It is home to the Esie Museum which was the first museum to be established in Nigeria.

Esie is an Igbomina Yoruba town in Kwara State of Nigeria lying about 48 kilometres South -East of Ilorin and about 128 kilometer north of Ife. Esie is generally known as a home of 800 soapstone figures.

The Origin of Soapstone figures is bewildering. Till date, it still remains a mystery. Indeed, nobody knows how these stone images exactly came about but a few explanations have been offered by inhabitants of the city. The most popular among them is that the 800 stone images were rebellious settlers who were turned into stone images.

The source claimed that these rebellious settlers were from another tribe of Yoruba-Land who sent words to Elesie (traditional chief of Esie land) that they were coming to settle down in his town but to their utter disappointment, they did not see anybody to receive them hence they settled outside the city of Esie. It later became known that these settlers became a threat to the security of the city.

They were undermining the administration of the chief and were about to rebel and as a result, the god of the land, being on the side of Elesie of Esie, turned these recalcitrant set of 800 settlers into stone statutes. Ironically, the Esie people worship them annually.

However, most of these soapstone figures have lost either heads or limbs. They appear to represent a variety of people. Some are men while some are women. A particular one, adorned with the tall cap neck and wrist beads was said  to be their king. It is this one that receives the annual sacrifice offered by the Esie people on behalf of others.

The soapstone figures of Esie are largest collection of stone carvings still in Black Africa. They were found in groves outside the town of Esie.

It is however explained scientifically that they were made of stone locally quarried and carved. They represent a civilization which had declined before the present political cultures were formed in the area. It is however believed that, these stone images are well above 200 years of age.



FEATURES OF ESIE STONE IMAGES

They all have facial marks of three horizontal lines between the eyes and ear.

Some have vertical lines on the chin.

Some have striations on the face

Majority wear necklaces and bracelets.

All the objects are in figures.

No two of the 800 soapstone figures look exactly the same. They differ in facial  feature, hairstyles and dress .

There are figures of women, holding swords, and quivers of arrows.

All soapstone figures have dates of their origin  un-determined.

No single soapstone figure is less than 60cm in height .

Virtually all the Esie soapstone images are located in National Museum Esie. Beside the soapstone images in Esie, similar stone images have been reported in places like Ijara and Ofaru, both in Igbomina Village near Esie. Esie Soapstone images and Ikom monoliths or Akwanshi of cross river state are two examples of stone figure in Nigeria.

In museum collection are the following Esie Soapstone figure:

A seated stone figure of a man with a bracelet on his right arm, and the right hand is placed on the abdomen. It wears a cap or dome-shaped headdress with a chevron or ziz-zag patern near the hairline which appers to be beaded. It has a height of 60cm.

A soapstone seated figure with elaborate coiffure. It wears three strand of beads around the neck. A special beaded bracelet is worn on the right wrist, while on the left wrist is a wide bant bracelet. It has diagonal striations on the forehead. The hands rest on the lap. The Left leg and front portion of the foot are missing. Height:73cm.

A seated soapstone figure holds sword in his right hand which rests on top of the left hand. It wears an elaborate crown and a beard. The fact are square-shaped but appear more carefully carved. The shape of the eyes resemble some Yoruba wooden sculpture. It has a height of 75.5cm.