The Nok culture flourished in north-central Nigeria between 1500 B.C. and 200 A.D. The Nok culture became famous with the discovery of impressive terracotta sculptures in the characteristic Nok style. This style is easily recognisable on the grounds of its large, almost triangular eyes with deep-set round pupils, its elongated faces and unusual hairstyles.
In 1928 the first Nok head, depicting an ape, was discovered during work in a tin mine. However, its historic significance was not recognised at the time. When a further Nok head, this time with ‘human’ features, was discovered in 1943 – plugged on a stick, it was used as a scarecrow – the English archaeologist Bernard Fagg, who worked as a British colonial officer in Nigeria, understood the real value of those relics of an hitherto unknown culture. In 1949 the Nok sculptures collected until then were displayed to a stunned audience in the exhibition ‘Traditional Art from the British Colonies’ at the Royal Anthropological Institute in London. Since then, objects from the Nok culture have been regarded as some of the oldest examples of figural art in Africa (only the sculpture of ancient Egypt is older). Until recently, very little was known about the original use and function of Nok figures. Since 2005, scientists at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main (Prof. Peter Breunig) have researched numerous aspects of the Nok culture.
The present Nok head is a very beautiful, typical and almost undamaged example of this old art from Africa. The reddish clay is tempered with hard white stone spalls (‘granite grus’) and then baked. The head is hollowed and displays the typical features of Nok sculpture: an oblong face with a high forehead and eyebrows. Its large, outlined eyes are almost triangular, with deep-set round pupils. The nose is flat and wide, the mouth agape with pouting lips. The hairstyle consists of three large hemispheres in the upper section, with five plaits underneath hanging over the temples and the back of the head. Only two plaits are slightly damaged – otherwise no damage! Age: c. 1,825 years. H: 22 cm, W: 12 cm.

A thermoluminescence expertise is available:
issued by Dipl.-Ing. Rudolf Erlach at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Institute of Conservation and Restoration, in August 2005.

The 2005 thermoluminescence measurement came to the following conclusion:
the present object was last fired (that is, baked) approximately 1,815 years ago (c. 190 A.D.). In the year 2015, therefore, the present item is 1,825 years old. (ME)

Provenance: German Collection, Austrian Private Collection.

Literature: 'Nok terracottas' by Bernard Fagg, Lagos 1977; 'Aspects of the Nok Culture' by Joseph Jemkur, 1992; 'The Nok Culture' by Gert Chesi & Gerhard Merzeder; 'Naissance de l'art en Afrique noire. La statuaire Nok au Nigeria' by Bernard de Grunne; 'Nok - ein Ursprung afrikanischer Skulptur' by Peter Breunig (ed.); 'Erde und Erz' by Karl-Ferdinand Schädler, pp. 195–215.