IDNO

P.61260.GIJ

Description

A documentation photograph of a bronze shell surmounted by an animal. The shell is composed of a number of decorative panels with hatched markings, triangles, concentric circles and criss cross patterns. The animal surmounted on the top is four footed and may be a leopard with raised concentric designs on the body and a curled tail.

Place

W Africa; ?Nigeria; Igbu Uku

Cultural Affliation

Igbo (Ibo)

Named Person

Photographer

Jones, Gwilliam Iwan (known as G.I.)

Collector / Expedition

Date

circa 1930 - 1939

Collection Name

Jones Collection

Source

Jones, Gwilliam Iwan (known as G.I.)

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.61128.GIJ to P.61278.GIJ were kept in box 13, now numbered C294/.

Publication: Same image on the front cover of Unearthing Igbo-Ukwu, Shaw (1977); also, Figure, 3.24, p.30 with the caption, Bronze shell surmounted by animal.

Context: Thurstan Shaw provides a very detailed account of the Ibo Ukwu excavations he carried out in his book, Unearthing Igbo-Ukwu. He details the history of the site and the methodical approach in his field work. He notes that in 1939 a man was digging in his compound and found a decorated bronze bowl. The continued to dig and found a variety of other bronzes. A district officer heard about the bronzes and realised their archaeological importance and bought them. He presented the whole collection to the Department of Antiquities..the full name of the town is ‘Igbo-Ukwu’ Great Ibo to distinguish it from other places called ‘Ibo’.

Context: Shaw also writes specifically about the object in this photograph. “The third bronze shell is smaller than the other two, being only 20cm long, but it is surmounted by a four-footed animal, taken to be a leopard; the animal’s body is decorated with a small number of circles and spirals. The pointed end of the shell terminates in a granulated sphere, and the whorls are decorated with a pattern of traingles, lozenges, and spirals. It has been assumed that the bronze castings of shells were in imitation of the giant African land snail, Achatina. However, no less than four different experts on shells to whom photographs have been shown, concur in the opininon that it is a Triton shell (charonia) which is represented in each case. The coast, where such shells occur, is only 180 kilometres (100 miles) away, but the identification of the form of vessels with that of a sea shell may well have important implications (Shaw, 1977, p. 29).

Context: Jones who was a District Officer at the time of the initial discovery of the bronzes at Ibo Uwku notes that, “ It is impossible at present to date these Ibo bronzes. They are unlike any other bronze work from S. Nigeria or the Gold Coast. Their workmanship is excellent and they are in a very fair state of preservation”. (Jones, 1939, p. 165).

Bibliographical Reference:
Shaw, T. 1970. Igbo-Ukwu: An Account of Archaeological Discoveries in Eastern Nigeria, London.
Shaw, T. 1977 Unearthing Igbo-Ukwu. (Oxford University Press Ibadan)
Jones, G.I. 1939. “Ibo Bronzes from the Awka Division” Nigerian Field, Vol. VIII, no.4, pp.164-167)

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Alicia Fentiman 29/1/2008]