1. Technical case study: A monumental Nok terra cotta sculpture Sarah Barack Summer Teachers Institute in Technical Art History

2. The object suffered a catastrophic accident, leaving it in 50+ fragments, or sherds

3. During treatment, before fills were made to compensate for losses (note the visible break edges in the head, face, and leg)

5. Examples of Nok figures, with schematic drawing of a Nok fragment above

6. CT Scan of Nok figure Note multiple fragments contained within the object, not visible during examination under visible light

7. Note highly stylized features and pierced pupils/nostrils

8. Coiling a pot, a traditional ceramic working technique Open-pit firing, note the uneven heat and stacking of the pieces Interior of the “Nok” sculpture; note the similarities between the coiling image above and the ring around the bottom of the stool seen here

9. Sherd from “Nok” sculpture; note the thick, brown adhesive line Back of the “Nok” sculpture, view into head section before hair reattached

10. Technical Study FTIR (Fourier Transform Infra-red Spectroscopy) CT Scanning (Computer Tomography Thermoluminescence Dating (TL)

11. FTIR

12. CT Scan The sculpture entering the CT scanner, as seen from the control room A scan image, capturing surface detail; note the break edges identifying individual sherds

13. CT Scan CT Scan images; arrows connote the small, square fragment present on the back of the sculpture

14. TL Dating Note presence of holes in the middle of the square fragment

16. Technical case study: A Nok monumental terra cotta sculpture THANK YOU to AXA Art for their support of this project