African Copper Alloy Castings

 

Igbo Ukwu artist, Bowl 8", Leaded bronze

In Africa, starting during the ninth century, intricate forms of metalworking thrived. These metalworkings were especially prominent at a site called Igbo-Ukwu, now called southern Nigeria. Hundreds of copper alloy castings that were discovered at Igbo-Ukwu, such as the one above, provided proof of the African's culture being more technically sophisticated and accomplished than previously thought. The casting seen above was discovered by a farmer who was digging to create a cistern (a type of tank to hold water during dry seasons) in the former Igbo region of Nigeria in 1939. The farmer happened upon more items similar to this bowl. Despite this discovery, the site in question wasn't formerly excavated until 1959 by Thurstan Shaw. Shaw discovered that the site must have been used at a storage site for ritualistic items. These items, like the bowl, were formed using a technique called the lost-wax method. This method, lost-wax, involved forming the desired object with wax, enveloping the wax item it in clay, firing the clay (which melts the wax), and then filling the clay mold with molten metal. Some of the items found by the farmer were used by the farmer until they were acquired by the Nigerian Department of Antiquities. The bowl, shown below, was used by the farmer as a water bowl for his goats. 

Igbo Ukwu artist, Bowl 10 5/16", Leaded bronze

The bowl, seen above, imitates classic calabash bowls of the time except for one bold difference, the intricacy in the design. Classic calabash bowls were decorated more with designs that were engraved. The embossed beaded lines, circles, and patterns on this particular bowl are distinguished Igbo Ukwu style features. Other bowls, like this and the other one, were found and were also intricately ornamented. The studying of the intricacies of these pieces revealed that the artisans who made these pieces did so confidently, and is why these pieces have hardly a flaw to them, even though some of these pieces were cast in individual parts and then pieced together. Some pieces were formed in as many as eight separate parts, proving that their skills of combining these pieces were equally intricate. More than fifty objects, including pottery, cloth, beads, wire, bowls, and decorated blades, were all found at the site where the farmer originally had discovered a few pieces, including the two bowls seen above.


Dewey, William. 2020. "Igbo Ukwu - Art & Life In Africa - The University Of Iowa Museum Of Art". Africa.Uima.Uiowa.Edu. https://africa.uima.uiowa.edu/chapters/ancient-africa/igbo-ukwu/?start=0#essay.

Clark, Dr. Christa. 2020. "Historical Overview: To 1600 – Smarthistory". Smarthistory.Org. https://smarthistory.org/historical-overview/.

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