Ife head
A History of the World in 100 Objects
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The Impact of the Ife Heads on African Art
In 1938 an astonishing group of 13 heads were dug up in the precincts of a royal palace at Ife. The quality of the brass casting was superb and there could be no doubt now that this was a totally African tradition. One does not have to be a connoisseur or an expert to appreciate the beauty of their modelling, their virility, their repostful realism, their dignity and their simplicity. It's hard to exaggerate what a profound reversal of prejudice and hierarchy this represented along with Greece and Rome, Florence and Paris.
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