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Archetype of Aesthetics : the invention of a
canon in African art.
The terracotta statuary of the Nok Culture is a classic art style whose
sudden appearance has radically challenged the traditional art history of
African Sculpture.
 THE
ICONOGRAPHY OF NOK ART.
Four main characteristics distinguish the NOK STYLE.
1. The treatment of the eyes, which form either a segment of a circle or
sometimes a triangular form, with the eyebrow above balancing the sweep of the
lower lip, sometimes making a circle.
2. The piercing of the pupils, the nostrils, the lips and the ears.
3. The careful representation of elaborate hairstyles, with complex
constructions buns, tresses, locks and the profusion of beads around the neck,
torso and waist.
4. The realism in the modeling of the curled lips, the straight nose with
flaring nostrils and the large overhanging forehead.
The earliest known sculpture of large size in the Sudan
is that produced in pottery by the Nok culture, which flourished extensively in
northern Nigeria from the 5th century BC into the early centuries AD. These
people were the first known manufacturers of iron in western Africa, furnaces at
Taruga having been dated between the 5th and early 3rd centuries BC; they
continued, however, to use stone tools. Of well-fired clay, their sculptures
represent animals naturalistically; human figures, however, are depicted with
heads that are usually tubular, but sometimes conical or spherical, and with
simple tubular trunks and limbs. The art of Nok indicates the antiquity of many
basic canons of West African sculpture, but the precise relationship between
ancient and modern forms is obscure.
Nok figures where made for religious purpose as proved by subject and attitude.
Nok terracotta figures are cult objects representing deities, spirit figures,
mythical beings or deified ancestors.
Some of the earliest examples of sophisticated sculpture in sub-Saharan Africa
come from the Nok culture. We do not know what the people called themselves, so
the culture was named after the town of Nok where the first object was found.
The fired clay or terracotta sculptures range in size from small pendant to
life-size figures. Nok is an iron age culture that has been dated between 900
B.C. and 200 A.D. Archaelogical artifacts have been found in Nigeria, primarily
to the north of the Niger-Benue River confluence and below the Jos escarpment.
According to some accounts, based on artistic similarities between early Yoruba
art forms and Nok forms, there may be connections between Nok culture and
contemporary Yoruba peoples.
Some Nok auctions results:
Dimanche 28 Mars 2004. Rambouillet, France .
Parmi les 80 sculptures présentées, on retiendra les 7 600 euros obtenus
sur une tête de notable nok du Nigeria en terre cuite à engobe beige orangé.
Toujours d'une tribu Nok du Nigeria, une statue de femme en terre cuite
était cédée pour 14 000 euros et une statue aviforme était adjugée 6 800
euros.
Faure et Associés, SVV - Tél. 01.34.83.01.32
Noks Books :
 The
Birth of Art in Africa: Nok Statuary in Nigeria
Author: Bernard De Grunne; Buy New: $29.95
1999, ISBN: 2876602423 Book Description: HARDCOVER VILO 1998. D *In
Nigeria. This volume presents sixty-five illustrations of terra-cotta
sculptures from the Nok, Sokoto and Katsina cultures of Nigeria. These
objects, dating from 600 BC to 300 AD, form the oldest traces of the
remarkable sculptural tradition from sub-Saharan Africa. Color/b&w illus;
maps. 121p.
Fagg, B: Nok
terracottas (Lagos, 1977), no. 59, pl. 59. Published by
Ethnographica for the National Museum, Lagos (1977), 40 pages.
Arseniev, V.: Culture de l'ancienne espace nigérienne,"Hermitage
Readings". The George Ortiz Collection, St. Petersburg (12 April 1993),
pp. 18-22, 27.
Highlights from 2000 Years of Nigerian Art Eyo, Epko. Logos
(Nigeria) Federal Department of Antiquities, 1973. app. 40 pp., 31
illustrations. approx. 6"x 11", An exhibition catalogue with some
unusual figures; portrait busts are the major focus.
Treasures of Ancient Nigeria. EYO (Ekpo) and Frank Willett. Book Description:
Detroit Inst./Knopf NY 1980. paper edition 162pp, color, b/w illustrations
AFRICAN ARTS. Vol. XXVII, No. 3. Memorial to William Fagg. African Arts, Book
Description: July 1994, Los Angeles, 104 pp. Memorial to William Fagg.
Includes: E. Bassani, "Additional Notes on the Afro-Portuguese
Ivories"; F. Willet, B. Torsney, & M. Ritchie, "Composition and
Style: An Examination of the Benin 'Bronze' Heads" , R. Abiodun,
"Understanding Yoruba Art and Aesthetics: the Concept of Ase"; and
A. Fagg, "Thoughts on Nok". |
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David Norden is a private African art
dealer since 1992 who specializes in important works of art from African and
ancient cultures.
The artifacts, which are offered to discerning collectors, dealers and to public
institutions, are selected for their rarity, provenance and distinctive
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