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Nok art refers to huge human, animal, and other figures made out of terracotta pottery, made by the Nok culture and found throughout Nigeria.
What medium did the Nok often use to create sculptures?
Most Nok sculpture is hollow and coil-built like pottery. Finely worked to a resilient consistency from local clays and gravel, the millennia-long endurance of these ancient objects is a testament to the technical ability of their makers.
What are the materials used in Nok art?
The most characteristic Nok artifacts are clay figurines of animals and stylized human beings, usually heads; perforated eyes of an elliptical or triangular shape are typical of the style. Other artifacts of the Nok culture include iron tools, stone axes and other stone tools, and stone ornaments.
What technique was used to create a Nok sculpture?
Sixth century BCE-sixth century CE. Nigeria. Researchers suggest that Nok ceramics were likely shaped by hand from coarse-grained clay and then sculpted with a technique similar to wood carving. After drying, the sculptures were covered with slip and polished to produce a smooth, glossy surface.
What materials did Nok artists use in their sculptures?
These artifacts are mostly terracotta sculptures of human heads, human figures, and animals. One of the identifying characteristics of Nok sculptures is the triangular or oval-shaped eyes on human faces.
What did the Nok trade?
The Nok themselves were able to create good-qaulity iron through smelting, which is the process of heating metal to extract it in a pure form. This made the Nok an important part of local trade networks as producers and smiths of iron tools and likely made them fairly powerful.
What is terracotta used for?
Terracotta is the term normally used for sculpture made in earthenware, and also for various practical uses including vessels (notably flower pots), water and waste water pipes, roofing tiles, bricks, and surface embellishment in building construction.
What is Mbari art made of?
Mbari were constructed with anthill clay as the primary building material, and once built, beautifully repeating geometric patterns were painted across the walls and pillars, which have an organic form.
What are the characteristics of ESIE art?
Facial features are naturalistic and many have outlined eyes and a long nose bridge with nostrils that flare out. The torso features a protruding navel and sagging pectorals and breasts. The majority have identical facial marks, which are three parallel and horizontal, straight lines between the eye and the ear.
What do archaeologists believe was the significance of Nok sculptures?
Some archaeologists believe that Nok terracotta sculptures signify that the Nok were an advanced society.
Who is the leading proponent in the use of terracotta clay as a sculptural medium in the Philippines?
Napoleon Abueva, Father of modern Filipino sculpture, the National Artist of the Philippines – and the youngest artist to receive the honor – is credited with leading the way for the nation’s sculptors, and serves as a living legend of the Filipino art world.
What is Nok art culture?
Nok refers to the culture associated with a one hundred square kilometer area in central Nigeria where thousands of terracotta figures were found. These figures were first encountered in tin mines by Colonel J. Dent Young in 1928 and were classified as Nok by Bernard Fagg in 1943.
What material was traditionally used to glorify the kings of Benin?
Royal history rendered in brass This remarkable brass plaque, dated between 1550-1680, depicts an Oba (or king) and his attendants from the Benin Empire—a powerful kingdom located in present-day Nigeria. We know that the central figure is an Oba because of his distinctive coral beaded regalia.
What does repatriation of Nok art mean?
What does repatriation of Nok art mean? the return to Nigeria of Nok art currently owned by institutions outside the country.
What is Tsoede art?
Tsoede is credited with bringing the art of bronze casting and making canoes to the Nupe. He died on a military expedition in 1591 in an unknown geographical location.
What did the Nok discover by melting certain rocks what age did the Nok skip directly to?
Most ancient cultures discovered other metals such as copper and bronze before iron, but the Nok moved directly from the Stone Age to the Iron Age without having a Copper or Bronze Age.
How were the details of the Lydenburg head created?
The heads are hollow with thin clay strips added to create facial details. The skill and thought that went into the designs suggest that they were valued products of a well organized and settled community.
What is the meaning of Nok?
“No One Knows” is the most common definition for NOK on Snapchat, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. NOK. Definition: No One Knows.
What is used to make terracotta?
Terracotta is usually made from a fairly coarse, porous type of clay. This is first shaped (or sculpted), then fired until hard. Baked terracotta is not watertight, a layer of glaze is required for this. Sometimes recycled terracotta (“grog”) is mixed with fresh clay to make a new batch of the material.
How terracotta products are made?
The making process involves different stages such as clay refining, clay mixing, throwing on the wheel, drying and firing. In the Initial stage the clay is refined by removing the dust particles like stones, lumps and other impurities in the clay. This is done manually using fine nets to filter the dry clay.
How is terracotta manufactured?
Manufacturing process. Terracotta can be made by pouring or pressing the mix into a plaster or sandstone mold, clay can be hand carved, or mix can be extruded into a mold using specialized machines. The hot clay is slowly cooled then hand finished.
What is mbari architecture?
Mbari is a visual art form practiced by the Igbo people in southeast Nigeria consisting of a sacred two- story house constructed as a propitiatory rite.
When did Igbo communities in Nigeria make mbari?
The first Mbari Club was founded in Ibadan in 1961 by a group of young writers with the help of Ulli Beier, a teacher at the University of Ibadan. Mbari, an Igbo (Ibo) word for “creation,” refers to the traditional painted mud houses of the area, which must be renewed periodically.
What is the best definition of Mbari?
Filters. (Nigeria, West Africa) A ceremonial clay shrine filled with clay models of humans or deities, made by the Igbo tribe.
