Håkønljzberg
July 26th, 2010, 07:59 PM
The Nok, Sokoto, and Katsina civilizations of Nigeria were agricultural and iron-smelting cultures that flourished from 1000 B.C. – 1000 A.D. Terracotta objects, mostly human figures and heads, have been discovered buried in the ground, and their meaning and function can only be speculated, since neither historical, social, nor political information about these cultures exists.
The Sokoto style (discovered in the modern-day Nigerian state of Sokoto) is instantly recognizable from classic Nok sculpture. The eyes are treated in a very different manner—although they are pierced with a circular hole like the Nok eye, both the eyelids and the eyebrows form a single, heavy-set downward curve, underlined by thick cross-hatching.
Another important difference is the simplicity of the coiffures and headdresses. Sokoto skullcaps are simple spheres (similar to the calabashes that the modern day Kirdi use as coiffures), unlike Nok coiffures, which are elaborate.
Also, unlike the overall abstraction of Nok and Katsina sculpture, the faces of Sokoto figures are more natural and realistic, and often seem to be portraits of actual people, as opposed to idealized images (Ref: Bacquart, “Tribal Arts of Africa”; de Grunne, "The Birth of Art in Africa"; Schaedler, “Earth and Ore”). Source - SUJARO (http://www.sujaro.com/index.shtml)
The Sokoto style (discovered in the modern-day Nigerian state of Sokoto) is instantly recognizable from classic Nok sculpture. The eyes are treated in a very different manner—although they are pierced with a circular hole like the Nok eye, both the eyelids and the eyebrows form a single, heavy-set downward curve, underlined by thick cross-hatching.
Another important difference is the simplicity of the coiffures and headdresses. Sokoto skullcaps are simple spheres (similar to the calabashes that the modern day Kirdi use as coiffures), unlike Nok coiffures, which are elaborate.
Also, unlike the overall abstraction of Nok and Katsina sculpture, the faces of Sokoto figures are more natural and realistic, and often seem to be portraits of actual people, as opposed to idealized images (Ref: Bacquart, “Tribal Arts of Africa”; de Grunne, "The Birth of Art in Africa"; Schaedler, “Earth and Ore”). Source - SUJARO (http://www.sujaro.com/index.shtml)