Nigeria

Owo: Head Fragment of a Young Female Princess Cirça 1480 AD Terracotta 6 x 3 x 4 in 15 x 8 x 10 cm Owo people; Region of Ile-Ife, Nigeria, West Africa This artifact was found in the area of Ife, in the center heartlands of the Yoruba people, but the actual region of the Owo kingdom is located about 80 miles to the southeast of Ile-Ife, Nigeria, West Africa. In the centuries past, the Owo kingdom was a powerful city-state and was founded by the Ife, city-state of the Ife, kingdom. This fragment is possibly of a young female adolescent or of a young princess, with classic characteristics of Owo iconographies in that the eyes are more widely spaced and in an almond shape. Also, the mouth and lips are more dynamic, and the absence of facial scarifications differentiates this artifact from that of the artistry of their neighbors, the Ife. The subject is depicted with an elaborate coiffure of a conical-leaf shaped series of braided rows six consecutive, successive rows, processed 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 Owo civilization or kingdom is presumed and estimated to be from the late archaic pavement period at Ile-Ife between the 12th – 15th centuries. The results of thermoluminescence testing (report number 20R030519) conducted by the Kotalla Laboratory research facilities in Germany reports the sampling was taken from the back of the left ear and shows that this artifact was last fired into its present construction approximately 540–600 years ago, actual date reported 1480 AD, which is consistent with the suggested period of the Owo civilization. later purchased by Maxwell Price