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11 May 2010

Kingdom of Ife

Sculpture from West Africa, at the British Museum until 6 June. Wonderful statues in brass, copper, stone, terracotta.I liked the striations on the faces, and the beads modelled as part of the statues -
Some of the carvings were of symbolic animals, like the chameleon - it can swivel its eyes independently and thus see both forward and backward at the same time -
Two cast metal rings were impressive; they were possibly used as stands for offerings. One showed vultures pecking at bodies (presumably of captives) and the other was less gruesome - intertwined reptiles, each cluster with a snail.

Couldn't resist taking a photo of the lighting and shadows -
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1 comment:

  1. Unknown11 May 2010 at 10:01

    I got to see the Ife exhibition and thought it was wonderful - no time for sketching though with DS trailing along! He wasn't too interested but I thought it was all beautiful - wonderful craftsmanship - like the Benin Bronzes.

    I saw this today and thought of your journey lines;

    http://wmmorrisfanclub.blogspot.com/2010/04/ordered-disorder-perfect-imperfection.html

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