Yoruba-Ijebu Brass Face-Bell, Nigeria

Private Collection, United Kingdom, by 1972
Eric D. Robertson, New York, acquired from the above in 1979
Private American Collection, acquired from the above in 1997

The Center for African Art, New York, Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art & Thought, September 20, 1989 - January 7, 1990; additional venues: 
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, February 10 - April 1, 1990
The National Museum of African Art, Washington D.C., May 8 - August 26, 1990
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, September 26 - December 9, 1990
The New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, January 11 - March 24, 1991
The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, April 23 - June 16, 1991
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Africa: The Art of a Continent, June 5 – September 29, 1996

Henry John Drewal and John Pemberton III, Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought, New York, 1989, p. 122, cat. 126
No author listed, "Les Expositions", Arts d'Afrique Noire, no. 86, summer 1993, p. 59
Ekpo Eyo, From Shrines to Showcases: Masterpieces of Nigerian Art, Abuja, 2008, p. 190 cat. 137

Excellent condition for an object of this great age and rare type. Minor nicks and scratches, dents and abrasions throughout. Exceptionally fine aged dark brown bronze patina with verdegris and encrustation. Clapper suspended with chain inside with rust.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

One of the grandest and most highly-developed of the pre-colonial Yoruba nations was the Ijebu kingdom, situated on the southern coast of present-day Nigeria, centered between the Ogun and Osun Rivers.  The first mention in European literature of Yoruba-speaking peoples refers to the Ijebu, appearing in Duarte Pacheco Pereira's Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis of 1505-1508.  Pereira made reference the famous Ijebu eredo, an 80-mile rampart which enclosed and protected the Ijebu capital and testified to the sophistication and organization of the Ijebu nation by the turn of the 16th century.  During successive centuries the Ijebu would exploit their position in the mid-coastal region of Southern Nigeria, and amass great wealth and power by controlling trade routes between the sea and the interior.

In his discussion of a related face-bell previously in the Horstmann Collection, Zug, Pemberton (in Bassani 2002: 86) notes: "Brass face-bells (omo) are emblems of authority, the privilege of prominent chiefs in the Ijebu Yoruba area of Southern Nigeria.  The interlace pattern on the throat, the three striations sweeping upward from the corners of the mouth [... and on the present lot the vertical lines above the eyebrows] would be familiar symbols of status for wearer and viewer.  Singly or in various combination they are found on ritual objects used by persons having religious and/or political roles in Ijebu culture.  While these symbols are important in understanding the significance of the face-bell, the artistry of the object is found in the totality of its composition, above all in the conceptual treatment of the face.  The oval head rests upon a base which flares at the bottom, giving the piece not only stability when seated on a shrine, but suggesting a conical form with its apex in the handle rising from the top of the head, a form associated in Yoruba thought with the 'inner' or 'spiritual head' (ori inu).  The massive head and neck convey physical power.  It is the face, however, which conveys the inner power, the spiritual authority of the one who carries the bell on his left hip suspended from a sash over the right shoulder. [...]  The face-bell is a 'portrait' of inner authority, an authority that possesses wisdom, which penetrates and sees deeply into the human condition."