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Nok terracotta

Nok terracotta sculptures from central Nigeria are among the oldest large figurative sculptures in sub-Saharan Africa.

Period
African art history
Approximate dates
c. 500 BCE to 200 CE
Place of origin
Central Nigeria
Key regions
Plateau, Kaduna and surrounding states of Nigeria
Art forms
Terracotta sculpture, iron working
Major artists
Unknown Nok sculptors

Visual introduction

  • Nok terracotta head

    Unknown Nok sculptors · c. 500 BCE to 200 CE · Terracotta

    Shows the typical Nok stylised face with pierced eyes and an elaborate hairstyle.

    Image: Photo: Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

  • Nok kneeling figure

    Unknown Nok sculptors · c. 500 BCE to 200 CE · Terracotta

    Shows how Nok artists modelled the whole body, with jewellery, posture and detailed features.

    Image: Photo: Hiart, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

  • Nok animal figure

    Unknown Nok sculptors · c. 500 BCE to 200 CE · Terracotta

    Nok sculptors also modelled animals, showing the range of their subjects.

Historical context

The Nok culture is named after a village in Kaduna State where tin miners found terracotta fragments in 1928. Archaeologists have found them in a large area of central Nigeria, along with evidence of early iron working.

Nok people left no written record, so much is still debated: what the sculptures meant, who they portrayed, and how they were used. Many works have been looted and sold, which removes them from their archaeological context and makes study harder.

Visual characteristics

Form: stylised heads and figures, with elongated shapes and triangular or oval eyes with pierced pupils.

Detail: elaborate hairstyles, jewellery and beads.

Material and method: hand-built terracotta, hollow and fired, with careful surface detail.

Related movements

Sources and further reading

Further reading: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Smarthistory. Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments.