"Royal Head, Ife Head, Nigeria"
Royal head in the Ife style in bronze and copper alloy using the lost-wax process. Height. 40 cm. – West AfricaThe Ife head is one of eighteen objects unearthed in 1938 in Ife, Nigeria, the religious and former royal center of the Yoruba. It is believed to represent a king. It probably dates from the 12th century, before Europeans had any contact with the local population. The realism and refinement of these objects ran counter to Western conceptions of African art. A few Ife heads have ended up in the British Museum and in America. 
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