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African Bronze Portrait Head This bronze was cast at the behest of the Oni of Ife. During the great period of Bronze Casting and is an actual portrait of African Queen Mother. This portrait is believed by Dr. Onelge Walson of Nigeria to be Queen Mother "Moremi of Ife." It was dated by archeometrist Dr. Thomas a Zeibold in 1976 and determined to be about 700 years old. The procedure used to measure its age, is thermo luminescent dosimetry. This test measures the amount of cosmic radiation trapped in the quartz, feldspar and mica of the core since its firing which effectively set the archeological clock. That the core form is congruent with that of the great period Ife bronzes was verified by the radiography at Timonium Laboratories in Baltimore Maryland. The Ife Queen Mother is among the very rarest of African objects of Art,. first because "Man-regarding" art is rare, the preferred genre being "spirit-regarding". Secondly this sculpture was executed as a unique portrait commissioned by the Oni of Ife (The King) as deification of the sovereign. Thirdly, the Great Period, the era of it provenance a) ended abruptly when all the Bronze casters were put to death by the successor of a well loved Oni after he uncovered a ruse perpetrated by the Bronze caster where in they adorned the former's portrait in his robes and beard allowing its' two month reign to interdict and delay the latter’s successive coronation. By way of definition, the middle period began sometime after 1258 when Ighe Igna was dispatched to Benin, a vassal state of Ife to instruct the Bini in lost wax casting. It no longer was an art form reserved for the deification of a sovereign signaling the end of the Great Period. The late period began when the first likeness of a European was rendered, circa 1630. The Hornblower (Portuguese) is considered pivotal. Valuation of this Bronze should be interpolated based on the last sale of an object roughly similar. That piece, a 17th century Benin Queen Mother sold in 1966 for $966,000.00.Valuation is to be calculated according to the formulae laid out in the universally respected economic theories of Gerald Retlinger's "Economics of Taste." Collectability is qualified relative to beauty, rarity and permanence, in that order. The beauty of this acquisition lies in the fact that this is attainable history, documented royal portraiture heralding office (Ife Queen Mother), person (Moremi) , most importantly, celebrating a mothers ultimate investment His natural mother, in order to assure his impartiality as a ruler, puts herself to death in testimony to his character. Upon her demise a "Queen Mother" was appointed to ceremonially replace her. Though her calling is ceremonially based she becomes, in fact, a human deity whose power and influence is unchallenged. She ruled jointly with the king as the feminine half of the monarchy. She ruled for the life of the king who respected her as his mother, according her both candor and unlimited access. This piece celebrates governments' recognition, inclusion and concomitant exaltation of motherhood and womanhood in the routine transaction of the affairs of state. The Rarity lies: 1) in the fact that most of the existing portrait heads are in the possession of the royal family; 2) That as royal portraiture, bronzes are the rarest type of sculptures in existence and, this piece made in the 13th century is possibly the oldest such piece ever discovered. BACKGROUND The Queen Mother is both (wo)man and god(dess). Upon the death of an Oni -OR- An Oba, a new king was selected; a grave and costly distinction. The royal successor, knowing the impending demand of his calling under the traditions of the realm, steeled himself for the pain and honor of kingship. Among the very rarest forms of art known and hailing from the 13th Century, this piece becomes extremely rare, and 3) that as an artifact of the Great period, the defining period of the craft it is the most important example of the art form. The permanence is apparent, there is no more permanent a class of objects than bronzes categorically. HISTORY This piece was purchased by the owner in 1971 from experienced, reputable art importer. It is wholly owned by the owner of record. The value is calculated at a minimum of $21.6 million dollars. With the last similar piece (a Benin bronze from the 17th Century) having sold for $966,000.00 in 1966, the value in present valuation becomes $10.8 million. Given that an actual portrait from the period during which this medium was reserved exclusively for the deification of a sovereign it is reasonable to assume a valuation increase by a factor of two. Archaeometric support Factors 1) Certificate of test documenting the "proximate date" of firing at 750 years ago. 2) Radiographs documenting the existence of the requisite nails in situ as well a core form that is classically the extravagantly thick core form of Ife royal portraiture. 3) Bronze disease is in evidence as a an indicator of primitive bronze metallurgy and is typified by the flaking away of bits if the casting resulting in piercing surface abrasions. 4) The presence of Azurite crystals is another indicator of age. A 1/4" habit of Azurite requires more than 2 lifetimes. |
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