The Ifẹ̀ Classical Age

Between roughly di eleventh and di fifteenth centuries CE, Ilé-Ifẹ̀ produce plenty sculpture for copper alloy, pure copper, terracotta and stone wey di technical control and naturalism no get mate anywhere for di region, and dem no even pass am for Ifẹ̀ itself after dat time. For di same centuries, di city lay tens of thousands of square metres of potsherd pavement, run primary glass industry wey dey make glass wey di composition unique, and stand for di centre of trade system wey draw copper come down from Sahel and push beads go across West Africa. Na dis period literature dey call classical Ifẹ̀ or di Ifẹ̀ florescence. Na im be di part of Yoruba history before eighteenth century wey dem document pass, and even at dat, e still thin pass wetin dat description make am look like.

Na di art make Ifẹ̀ blow go international level, and di fame come with one racist puzzle attach to am. Wen Leo Frobenius see Ifẹ̀ terracottas for 1910, e suggest say dem na relic of one lost Atlantic colony of Greek people, because e no believe say West African people fit make dem. Dat explanation don die, but wetin follow am still dey matter: people still dey routinely present di naturalism of Ifẹ̀ sculpture like mystery wey need outside cause, wen di real evidence dey show say na local tradition with local materials, local technology and development wey dem fit date.

Di things wey dem find and how dem take find dem

Wunmonije Compound, 1938. Labourers wey dey dig foundation behind di Ọ̀ọ̀ni's palace discover one group of life-size copper-alloy heads wey represent figures wey wear crown and di ones wey no wear crown. Na dis be di single most consequential Ifẹ̀ find, and na by accident e happen, wey mean say e no get excavated stratigraphy. Dating rely on thermoluminescence tests of clay cores wey remain inside two of di heads, wey give range of 1221 to 1369 CE 1.

Ita Yemòó, 1957 onward. Dis one na still chance discovery, wey labourers uncover wen dem dey prepare land for construction, wey Frank Willett come excavate as rescue operation from December 1957 and for further work reach 1963 2. E bring out copper-alloy castings and terracotta heads in situ, and dem date di material to roughly 1295 to 1435 CE 1. Willett radiocarbon dates from di site fall enter eleventh to thirteenth centuries, wey dey date di occupation instead of di individual castings 3.

Lafogido, early fourteenth century. E bring out terracotta animal heads wey wear regalia, including hippopotamus, elephant and ram, wey connect to one paved burial context 1.

Di Obalúfọ̀n mask. One life-size mask wey dem make with nearly pure copper, wey dey National Museum, Lagos, wey Ifẹ̀ tradition identify with Ọba Obalúfọ̀n II Aláyémọrẹ, and wey art history put for early fourteenth century 1. Pure copper dey far harder to cast pass di leaded brass and bronze wey dem use for most of di corpus, because di working range narrow and e no dey flow well, so di mask show technical capacity just as e be object of state.

Check wetin dis list contain: two out of di three most important assemblages na by accident dem find dem, and na under rescue conditions dem take dig dem. Di 2021 reconstruction of Willett Ita Yemòó records observe say di fame of di site contrast with how little of im archaeology dem publish in detail, and say dem need unpublished field notes to recover di stratigraphy 2. Ifẹ̀'s art history come stand on foundation wey partly get issue, and make person treat confident statements about di sequence of individual objects as art-historical argument.

Dating di florescence, and where scholars take differ

Di consensus place di peak of sculptural production for thirteenth and fourteenth centuries 1. Inside dat one, real disagreement dey about precision and about attribution.

Suzanne Blier date Ifẹ̀'s high florescence to roughly 1250 to 1350 CE, as she argue from thermoluminescence results on key metal works plus di estimated reign era of Obalúfọ̀n II as dem give am for Ifẹ̀ oral histories and king lists 4. Her bigger argument, wey she develop for Art and Risk in Ancient Yoruba, na say dis works no be generic royal portraits but dem produce dem during and about one specific political crisis, and say di naturalistic head tradition dey tied to one particular contested succession and to di Obalúfọ̀n institution 4. She read di corpus as history wey full of direct reference to events.

Di caution against dis na methodological and e good make dem state am plainly. Blier chronology join absolute dating method with king list, and Yoruba king lists no get independent dating; reign-length estimates for periods wey early like dis na reconstructions. Anywhere dem use king list tighten thermoluminescence range, di result no dey more precise pass di thermoluminescence, na say e just dey more specific in a way wey di evidence no support. Frank Willett earlier position dey more conservative, as e treat di corpus as tradition wey develop over longer period without linking individual works to named rulers. Di two readings get ground; reader suppose know say to attach any Ifẹ̀ head to named Ọ̀ọ̀ni na argument, no be finding.

Wetin no get dispute: di material na medieval, e be local, and e cluster for di thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

Di technology

Dem make Ifẹ̀ castings with lost-wax process, where dem go form model with wax on top clay core, cover am with clay, heat am make di wax melt comot, and fill am with molten metal. Di clay cores wey remain inside di Wunmonije heads na wetin make thermoluminescence dating possible 1.

Dem gats import di metal. Copper no dey naturally for Yoruba forest zone reach di quantity wey dem fit work wit. Ifẹ̀'s copper come south through Sahel, and dem mention Takedda wey dey di region of present-day Niger and Mali as one source for trans-Saharan trade 1. Dat single fact show say Ifẹ̀ na one important center for long-distance trade network wey reach Sahara, and dis mean say Ifẹ̀ gats get wetin dem dey send go north in exchange. Di glass industry na di obvious candidate.

Glass na di strongest evidence for di whole Ifẹ̀ record. Di Olókun Grove site cover about 268 hectares, and di digging dem do for Igbo Olókun between 2010 and 2012 bring out pass 12,000 glass beads wit hundreds of crucible pieces wey glass plaster body and oda waste from production 5. Di glass get high-lime and high-alumina composition, roughly 10 to 20 percent alumina and 12 to 20 percent lime, wey dem never see for any European, Middle Eastern or Asian glass, and wey dem fit trace go local recipe wey mix high-alumina pegmatite sand wit lime from snail shell 5. Dis na primary glass production, meaning say dem make di glass from raw materials, no be say dem melt imported glass again, and dis put Ifẹ̀ among di small number of primary glassmaking centers wey dey known for di whole world for dat time. Dem don identify Ifẹ̀ beads for different sites across West Africa, wey give di city wetin e dey export take change copper.

Apart from dis ones, di floor pavements sef dey. Potsherd pavements, wey be broken clay pots wey dem arrange on edge for herringbone pattern inside prepared clay, na di major mark of dat period, and majority of dem dey date from twelfth to fifteenth century, wey dem link wit shrines, roads, and house courtyards 6. Ifẹ̀ tradition link dem to Ọ̀ọ̀ni Lúwo Gbagida and still dey call dem apáàdì Lúwo. To construct dem need plenty heavy labour work, wey mean say government or state wey get power to organise am gats dey.

Ifẹ̀ and Benin

Di traditional story talk say for thirteenth century, one caster from Ifẹ̀, wey Benin tradition dey call Igueghae or Igueigha, travel go Benin come teach Edo pipo how to cast brass 7. Benin casters, di guild of Igun Eronmwon for Igun Street for Benin City, dey trace dia origin go him, and dem dey remember am as di first Inneh of di guild 7. Another Benin tradition wey follow talk say di Ọba Ẹwẹká I, wey start di current Benin dynasty, na son of prince wey dem send from Ifẹ̀.

One written source of different kind dey. Portuguese records from 1550s write say Benin court describe one supreme authority wey Benin ruler dey respect, wey dem dey call Ogané, wey im palace dey far inside hinterland and wey dey send staff and cross to every new Benin ruler as sign of authority 1. Pipo don tey dey identify Ogané as di Ọ̀ọ̀ni of Ifẹ̀. If dat identification correct, e mean say na sixteenth-century written evidence, from Benin own mouth, wey show say dem recognise Ifẹ̀'s ritual seniority for dat time. Plenty pipo accept dis identification, but na identification, no be wetin di source write directly.

Another counter-argument dey, wey come mostly from Benin side, wey talk say di Igueghae story no reliable because di names inside na Edo names no be Yoruba, and because Benin bronzes different from Ifẹ̀'s in wetin dem dey use am do and how dem look 7. Di stronger side of dis objection no be say Benin no learn anything from Ifẹ̀, but say story of where tradition come from dey always favor who dey tell am, and di Ifẹ̀'s version dey put Benin under am while Benin own dynasty story dey use di Ifẹ̀ connection take give di Ẹwẹká line authority instead of to agree say dia art depend on dem.

Wetin person fit talk wit reasonable confidence na: Ifẹ̀ casting dey earlier pass di developed Benin tradition based on current dating; di technical connection close reach say dem make am independently no likely; Benin early naturalistic heads resemble Ifẹ̀ style pass, and di tradition come change over di centuries wey follow toward more stylised design and heavier metal; and di sixteenth-century Portuguese Ogané record independently confirm say ranking ritual relationship dey. Wetin person no suppose talk na say Benin art na copy-copy, because non of all dis points mean dat kind tin.

Ifẹ̀ and the wider region

Ọ̀wọ̀, wey dey for di eastern side of Yorubaland toward Benin, produce terracotta sculpture wey mix Ifẹ̀ and Benin features, and na di clearest material evidence wey show say dem relate wit each oda, no be say culture just flow one-way.

Toward north, di bronze figures from Tada and Jebba on top River Niger, about 200 kilometres north of Ilé-Ifẹ̀, include di seated Tada figure, wey technically dey among di best casting work from di region and get stylistic link wit Ifẹ̀ work 1. Di fact say dem dey dat far north show say Ifẹ̀-connected get activities along River Niger, wey match di copper route and show Ifẹ̀'s position inside trade network instead of to see am as one isolated forest city.

Di general picture wey come out from material evidence, instead of dynastic tradition, na say Ifẹ̀ na commercial and manufacturing center wey get real long-distance reach, wey im ritual respect and political power tie join dat economic position. When di economic position drop from late fourteenth century, during di period wey Ogundiran describe as time of drought, hunger, sickness and pipo moving commot, di political dominance drop follow am 8. But di ritual primacy no commot. Ifẹ̀ still remain di ritual center of Yoruba world, and di Ọ̀ọ̀ni's seniority survive every political change wey follow, including di rise of Ọ̀yọ́, di nineteenth-century wars, and colonial rule.