Nigeria

Ife Commemorative Effigy Head of a Young Female Princess Cirça 1472 AD Terracotta 7 x 3 x 3 in 18 x 8 x 8 cm Yoruba people; Southwestern Nigeria, West Africa This is a very elegant effigy head of a young princess with characteristics of parallel facial striations, which were traditional facial scarifications used by the Ife people. The subject is depicted with conical-leaf-shaped braided rows forming an elaborate coiffure, with nine consecutive rows from the smallest leaf plaits upwards to the larger leaf rows of the coiffure. Provenance: This artifact is a very rare and important archeological find from the Ife civilization. The époque of the Ife civilization is estimated to be from the late archaic period between the 12th–15th centuries. The results of thermoluminescence testing (report number 21R030519) conducted by the Kotalla Laboratory research facilities in Germany reported the sampling was taken from the back of the left ear and showed that this artifact was last fired into its present construction approximately 550–600 years ago, actual date reported 1472 AD, which is consistent with the suggested period of the Ife civilization. Private French Collection later purchased by Maxwell Price