"The head Olokun. Copy or original?
ARTinvestment.RU   08 мая 2010

Experts from the British Museum decided to investigate a mysterious bronze sculpture from Nigeria, which has long been considered a copy of the beginning of XX century

specialists from the British Museum decided to take up the study of mysterious bronze sculpture from Nigeria, which is called the "head Olokun. Now it is a work that many scholars consider the later copy of an ancient sculpture exhibited in the museum for an exhibition devoted to the culture of the kingdom of Ife - the city-state of the Yoruba people, in Western Africa in the XII - XV centuries. Mr. Oe.

in the history of this sculpture more questions than answers. It is known that in 1910 it found the German anthropologist Leo Frobenius (Leo Frobenius), who came to Ife to study African culture. Further confusion begins. In his book, "Voice of America" Frobenius wrote that he obtained the statue lawfully in one of the sacred groves near Ife, paying a security guard 6 pounds and added to them a bottle of whiskey. But does it really was? Local residents say that Frobenius simply stole the bronze head, which they found long before his arrival. The fact that this work, which supposedly dates back to around 1400's and in fact is a picture of some ancient king, was in a grove sacred to the goddess of the sea Olokun and gradually came to be associated with its cult (hence, the title of "head Olokun"). Perhaps the locals after the annual rituals of burying his head back into the earth, in order to avoid the wrath of the goddess.

Returning a valuable artifact that Frobenius did not succeed - he was detained at the exit from Nigeria and forced to return the "sacred head". Until 1934 it was probably well preserved in the sacred grove of the goddess Olokun, has not yet been moved into the palace of the local ruler, and four years later she was sent to the new museum at Ife.

Sculpture left Nigeria for the first time only in 1948 - it was brought to the exhibition in the British Museum. There she was examined by experts Leon Underwood (Leon Underwood) and William Fegg (William Fagg), who came to the conclusion that this is a copy of the early XX century, and the original, they felt lost.

According Underwood and Fegga head was cast in modern technology with the help of plaster molds. A master of Ife traditionally used method of so-called. "Lost wax" (a wax model was covered with damp earth, which gradually dried, the wax melted, and the vacant space was poured metal). Analysis of the metal from which the sculpture is made, showed the presence of zinc and copper with small amounts of lead - the same components as in the original works of culture Ife. However, Underwood and Fegg assumed that the author of counterfeiting could simply recast this ancient sculpture.

subsequently felt that the sculpture is a later copy, supported by an eminent specialist on the art of Ife Willett, Frank (Frank Willett), and since then she has exhibited as a copy of it.

But what happened to the original? According to one theory, Frobenius, leaving Nigeria in 1910, left the country a copy and the original away with him. Although the time to produce high-quality forgery he probably was not enough.

According to another version, a copy could be made in the period between 1910 and 1934 a year (or possibly in 1934 - 1938), in order to sell the original no one collector from Europe or America. But while African art was still relatively cheap, and making copies was expensive. And even if the original before 1938 came to a serious collector, then why do about it still do not know anything?

That is why scholars suggest that the "head Olokun" can be a real work beginning of the XV century. To test this theory after the close of the exhibition culture of the kingdom of Ife June 6, at the British Museum with the permission of the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and monuments will be held on various studies. To determine the composition of the metal sculpture of clearance with the help of ultraviolet rays. An empty inner part of the head examine under a microscope to find the remains of molds. Outside of the inspection of the use of modern tools, and analysis of corrosion should help determine whether the sculpture was stored in the ground. The specialists also try to determine when work is created using Thermoluminescence dating.

Material prepared Ekaterina Guseva, AI

Sources: theartnewspaper.com , ft.com , artinvestment.ru