2. Norway, found in Scotland 1150–1200
Lewis Chessman,
Norway, found in Scotland 1150–1200
Female head, by Andrea del Verrocchio
Italy, about 1475
Icon of St Peter, Turkey, 1320
Skyamuni Buddha,
China, 1403–1424
Aztec turquoise mask,
Mexico, 1400–1500
Brass head, Ife, late 1300s – early 1500s
Aztec turquoise mask
Mexico, AD 1400–1500
On display in the Mexican Gallery (Room 27)
© The Trustees of the British Museum.
Queen from the Lewis Chessmen
Made in Norway, found on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, AD 1150–1200
On display in the Medieval Europe Gallery (Room 40)
Brass head
Ife, Nigeria, late AD 1300s–early 1500s
On display in the exhibition Kingdom of Ife: sculptures from West Africa in Room 35
© Karin L. Willis/Museum for African Art/National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.
Andrea del Verrocchio, a drawing of a head of a woman
Italy, about AD 1475
On display in the special exhibition Fra Angelico to Leonardo: Italian Renaissance drawings in the Reading Room,
22 April – 25 July 2010
Icon of St Peter
Turkey, AD 1320
Skyamuni Buddha
China, AD 1403–1424
On display in the Asia Gallery (Room 33)

3. Map of Africa with an inset of the sites and cities in Nigeria covered by the exhibition.

4. Map of key sites and cities in Nigeria covered by the exhibition.

5. Landscape around Ife, Nigeria.
The forests around Ife and across other parts of West Africa provided many important natural products and resources that could be traded locally, regionally and beyond.
© The Trustees of the British Museum.

6. Map of Ife’s sites and shrines.

7. Contemporary statue of Oduduwa in Ife, described as the ‘progenitor of the Yoruba race’.
There is a myth, well-known in Ife, about the creation of the world. Olodumare, the supreme god who inhabited the sky, sent the god Orishanla to create the world and mankind, with an iron chain, a snail shell filled with soil, a five-toed chicken and a chameleon. Orishanla drank too much palm wine and fell asleep, so his younger brother Oduduwa took over the task. Oduduwa climbed down a chain from the sky to the watery land below. Here he emptied the soil from the snail shell. The chicken kicked the soil around searching for food and dry land appeared. The chameleon tested the firmness of this land. Orishanla then created human beings and Oduduwa founded Ife.
© The Trustees of the British Museum.

8. Terracotta chameleon figure. Ibadan Road, Ife, Nigeria
Terracotta chameleon figure. Ibadan Road, Ife, Nigeria. 12th–15th century AD.
The chameleon often features in poetry and myth. In one version of the Ife creation myth, the chameleon was sent from heaven to test the firmness of the newly created earth.
© Karin L. Willis/Museum for African Art/National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.

9. Brass helmet mask for Ododoa masquerade. Benin, Nigeria. AD 1735–1750.
The Ododoa masquerade is part of a series of celebrations in Benin City that commemorate the city’s longstanding relationship with Ife. Ododoa is the Benin spelling of the Ife god Oduduwa, whose son Oranmiyan is acknowledged as the founder of the current royal dynasty in Benin. Today the Oba (king) of Benin still traces his royal descent back to Ife. There is also evidence of a historical and cultural connection between Ife and its eastern neighbour city-state, Owo. Their myths and terracotta sculptures share common subjects and motifs.
© The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.

10. Brass head of an Ooni (king). Wunmonije Compound, Ife, Nigeria
Brass head of an Ooni (king). Wunmonije Compound, Ife, Nigeria. AD 1300s–early 1400s.
This head portrays a person of status. The elaborate headdress probably represents a crown. It has a central band which appears to include numerous glass or stone beads of different shapes and sizes. A fringe of feathers is indicated along the crown’s peaked front. The back of the neck is hidden by a beaded and plaited cover. Most striking perhaps is the plaited crest rising from the front of the crown with a beaded conical boss at its base. Traces of red and black paint are evident throughout.
© The Trustees of the British Museum.

11. Glass beads. Ife, Nigeria. Date unknown.
Glass-working crucible. Itajero, Ife, Nigeria. AD 1100s–1400s.
By the AD 1100s Ife had developed into flourishing commercial, political and spiritual centre with access to lucrative trade networks. Copper, brass, glass and carnelian beads were imported and exchanged for local glass beads, ivory and agricultural products.
Beads appear on many Ife sculptures. They indicate the wearer’s importance. Originally, glass beads may have been imported but recent analysis has established that some glass beads were made locally. Many glass-working crucibles and fragments have been found in Ife. Crucibles were probably used for heating and reworking imported glass to make beads.
© The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.

12. Brass figure of a king. Ita Yemoo, Ife, Nigeria. AD 1300s.
This figure probably represents an Ooni (king). His beads and other regalia indicate wealth and authority. The distinctive double bow-shaped ornament on his chest is probably a badge of office. In his left hand he holds a ram’s horn that probably contained a powerful medicine. In his right hand he carries a beaded staff. Similar staffs are used in coronation ceremonies in Ife today.
© Karin L. Willis/Museum for African Art/National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.

13. Quartz stool. Olu Orogbo, Ife, Nigeria. AD 1100s–1400s.
This stool was cut from a single block of quartz, a brittle stone that is difficult to work. Its distinctive form, with circular seat and base, may be related to wood and bark box-stools used until recently throughout the lower Niger region. A hole in the seat probably contained powerful medicines.
© The Trustees of the British Museum.

14. Copper mask of Obalufon II. Ife, Nigeria. AD 1300s–early 1400s.
This life-size mask of almost pure copper weighs more then 5kg and was made to be worn. The wearer would have looked out through crescent-shaped slits below the eyes. The pairs of holes around the outer edge may have been used to attach a costume, and a beaded veil may have been tied to the holes around the face.
© Karin L. Willis/Museum for African Art/National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.

15. Terracotta head. Ita Yemoo, Ife, Nigeria. AD 1100s–1400s.
This elaborate terracotta head may depict a queen. Her crown is composed of many beads and a fringe of feathers. There are traces of red and white paint on the crown and red paint on her necklaces, lips, ear and forehead. Originally, this head may have been attached to a torso or a full figure.
© The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.

16. Copper head. Wunmonije Compound, Ife, Nigeria
Copper head. Wunmonije Compound, Ife, Nigeria. Late 14th–early 16th century AD.
This head was found with 16 others between 1938 and Builders were digging foundations for a house when they accidentally came across the brass and copper sculptures. Many of the metal heads have similar features, such as the holes around the mouth and hairline, but each has its own identity.
© Karin L. Willis/Museum for African Art/National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.

17. Monoliths at the shrine of Idi Ogun. Ife, Nigeria. 2009.
The monoliths mark the site of the shrine of Ogun, god of warfare and iron today. Monoliths are signs of power and authority. Ife was the home to many domestic shrines, urban temples and sacred groves. These were originally located in the city’s forests and some were positioned strategically at gateways and crossroads. People worshipped at altars dedicated to mythical heroes, ancestors and deities.
© The Ife community, Nigeria.

18. Small granite figure. Ore Grove, Ife, Nigeria. AD 1100s or earlier.
This male figure was found at the Ore Grove and wears a beaded necklace and choker. A long string of tubular beads hangs below his stomach. He has bracelets on this forearms and a wrapper around his waist, knotted over the left hip. He has been identified as either Ore (the hunter god), Idena (the gatekeeper) or Olefefunra (Ore’s servant).
Many stone figures and monoliths have been found at Ife’s shrines and groves. They provided a focus for prayer and sacrifice and depict humans, animals or more abstract forms described as staffs, shields or swords.
© The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.

19. Pot-sherd pavement. Ita Yemoo, Ife, Nigeria.
Excavations in Ife have revealed pavements made of pottery sherds. Their weathered surfaces suggest they paved the open inner courtyards of large domestic buildings. Many of these courtyards had semicircular platform altars at both ends. Pots and pot necks embedded in the centre of the pavements may have been used to receive libations (liquid offerings) to the gods worshipped on the altars.
© The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.

20. Spherical pottery vessel. Osangangan Obamakin, Ife, Nigeria
Spherical pottery vessel. Osangangan Obamakin, Ife, Nigeria. AD 1100s–1400s.
Pottery vessels with images around the top have been found at several shrines in Ife. They provide valuable information about ritual practice around the city. At the front of this pot is a roofed structure, possibly a shrine, with two human skulls at its base. Five double spiral forms may represent schematic ram’s heads. Other images include decapitated and bound human figures, a drum, a snake, a pair of brass staffs and a coiled bracelet, or ring.
© The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.

21. Terracotta pot lid in the form of a ram’s head. Abiri, Ife, Nigeria
Terracotta pot lid in the form of a ram’s head. Abiri, Ife, Nigeria. AD 1100s–1400s.
This ram’s head rests on a pot lid or a platter. It would have been set on an altar as a lasting reminder of sacrifice.
© Karin L. Willis/Museum for African Art/National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.

22. Modern protective shelter over pot-sherd pavement
Modern protective shelter over pot-sherd pavement. Ita Yemoo, Ife, Nigeria.
Today, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria, works with the Ooni, local groups and the people of Ife to protect, conserve and interpret key historical sites in the city.
© The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.