A crowned bronze head of Olokun

A crowned bronze head of Olokun or the wife of an Oni is one of the main questions in discussion of these bronze heads. Condition: The bronze head, with its reddish hue, indicates a high copper content and a lower zinc content. The patina displays various stages of oxidation, conveying an organically grown state and firmly bonded to the original material. Oxidation erosions, especially on the neck

Interesting the point of Suzanne Preston-Blier

She pinpointed regarding heads variably identified as Olókun or as a queen of the Ooni is methodological and interpretive rather than iconographic. She argues that the naturalistic portraiture of Ife—regardless of whether a head is later labeled as a deity or a royal person—is part of a system in which political authority, religious power, and ancestral legitimacy are inseparable. The realism of the sculpture functions as a medium of royal ideology, conveying legitimacy, sacred authority, and social rank, rather than providing a literal portrait of a single historical individual.

For Blier, attempts to identify a head definitively as Olókun or a queen of the Ooni based solely on stylistic features are unreliable. Instead, she emphasizes a multi-layered approach: archaeological context, oral history, ethnographic knowledge, and scientific analyses such as metallurgical study or thermoluminescence dating. These combined forms of evidence offer a more robust understanding of the object’s production, function, and meaning than visual analysis alone.

In essence, the point is that the head’s identity—divine, royal, or ancestral—is polyvalent. Its significance lies in its social and ritual role, not in whether it can be conclusively named as Olókun or as a particular Ooni consort. The realism of the Ife head expresses authority, legitimacy, and risk—the “art of risk”—in the interplay between human craftsmanship, divine association, and political power.

Suzanne Preston-Blier about Patina

Suzanne Preston Blier emphasizes the importance of thermoluminescence analysis and other scientific techniques in the study of Ife bronzes as part of a rigorous, interdisciplinary methodology. She argues that stylistic comparison alone is insufficient to determine age, provenance, or identity, especially given the prevalence of restoration, surface alteration, and the overlapping formal conventions of Ife portraiture.

Blier highlights that thermoluminescence dating, metallurgical analysis, and other non-destructive material studies provide objective data on the production techniques, alloy composition, and chronological placement of a sculpture. These analyses are particularly valuable in cases where visual or stylistic evidence is ambiguous or contradictory, such as when a head might represent Olókun or a queen of the Ooni.

Her position is that scientific evidence should be interpreted alongside oral traditions, archaeological context, and historical sources. Together, these approaches allow scholars to make more confident assertions about authenticity, production, and use. Scientific analysis, in Blier’s framework, is not used to “prove” iconographic identity per se, but to ground interpretations in verifiable material evidence, reducing speculation that can arise from relying solely on appearance or presumed stylistic parallels.

In short, Blier sees thermoluminescence and other material analyses as essential tools for establishing a reliable historical and technical framework for understanding Ife bronzes, particularly when visual assessment or oral traditions alone cannot resolve contested identifications.

Footnotes

1 Suzanne Preston Blier, Art and Risk in Ancient Yoruba: Ife History, Power, and Identity, c. 1300, Cambridge University Press, 2015, discussion of material and surface evidence.
2 Suzanne Preston Blier, “Ways of Experiencing African Art: The Role of Patina,” in Art of the Senses: The Teel Collection, MFA Publications, 2004.
3 Blier 2015, chapters on production, workshop organization, and methodological considerations.
4 Blier 2004, discussion of sensory engagement, surface traces, and the interpretive importance of patina.

Height: 41 cm
Weight: 3,1 kg