NOK
Nok is a village in the old Zaria province. It has a long-established Culture which stemmed from the type of artworks that have been
found in the area.
The works are sculptures done in terracotta, dating back to between 500BC and 300BC.
Terracotta is modelled
clay which has been hardened by baking and becomes reddish-brown in colour.
The Nok terracotta sculptures represent human and animal figures. They are highly stylized. Some are very near-naturalistic and others almost abstract in form.
The most naturalistic of them are the animal figures.
The sculptures vary in height, ranging from between 10 centimetres and 1.5 metres. The faces of the figures have their mouths
open. The pupils of the eyes and the nostrils are represented by small holes.
Some of the heads are oval and taper towards the chin
while others wear crown-shaped head-dresses.
Still, some are cylindrical or conical in shape.
The remains of such works have also been found at Jema'a, Wamba, Kagoro, Tave, Old Kafanchan, Gold Coffer, Katsina Ala and Old Abuja.
All such works are now
called the Nok Art.
This is the oldest African sculpture outside
Egypt known to the rest of the world.
The Abuja figures were found in a shrine which suggests that
they had been used as objects of worship.
Many of the figures which have been found are human heads with some showing signs
of being broken from the rest of the figure.
see also→
Benin Art
Igbo-Ukwu Art
Tsoede Art
Esie Art
Ibibio Art
Ife Art
Owerri Art
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