图：头部 - 美国大都会艺术博物馆展品查阅

品名（中）	图：头部
品名（英）	Figure: Head
入馆年号	1979年，1979.206.296
策展部门	迈克尔·洛克菲勒之翼（The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing）
创作者
创作年份	公元 1100 - 公元 1600
创作地区	尼日利亚, 埃西地区, 奥法（Nigeria, Esie region, Offa）
分类	石雕（Stone-Sculpture）
尺寸	高 11 1/4 英寸 × 宽 5 1/2 英寸 × 深 6 英寸 (28.6 × 14 × 15.2 厘米)
介绍（中）	这名妇女的石头头像是尼日利亚中北部约鲁巴镇Esie的一个遗址中发现的一千多个已知雕塑的一部分。在那里，在森林小树林中发现了一群由女人、男人和动物组成的皂石雕像，大多数都显示出明显的有组织污损行为故意损坏的迹象。目前尚不清楚这些物品是何时被创造或破坏的，尽管据估计它们是在 12 世纪和 15 世纪之间雕刻的。然而，该遗址的混乱限制了提供日期和确定这些作品的文化起源的尝试，即使是最好的估计仍然是知情的猜测。这个雕刻的头部具有许多与Esie人物共有的特征，包括轮廓分明的杏仁眼，耳朵远远地放在头上，左眼旁边有三个突出的疤痕痕迹。虽然来自Esie的一些雕像被描述为表情庄严，但在这里，嘴角似乎露出轻微但温和的微笑。雕塑家特别关注了这位女士精心制作的卷发，它几乎和她的头一样大，与之形成鲜明对比。这个碎片头像最初是一个全尺寸人物雕塑的一部分。所有Esie人物的头部相对于他们的身体来说都不成比例地大，这种视觉重点在Ife的雕塑传统中也很常见，有时将它们与Ife进行比较。与许多非洲人民的艺术一样，头部的这种视觉重点无疑是为了反映文化对它的重视。
介绍（英）	This stone head of a woman is part of a group of over a thousand known sculptures identified with a site in the Yoruba town of Esie in north central Nigeria. There, an assemblage of soapstone figures of women, men, and animals were found lying in a forest grove, most showing signs of deliberate damage from an apparent act of organized defacement. It is not known when the objects were created or vandalized, although it is estimated that they were carved between the twelfth and fifteenth century. The disarray of the site has limited attempts to provide dates and establish the cultural origins of these works, however, and even the best estimations remain informed speculation. This sculpted head possesses many traits common to Esie figures, including sharply defined almond eyes, ears set far back on the head, and three protruding scarification marks beside its left eye. While some statues from Esie have been described as solemn in expression, here the mouth seems to part in a slight but gentle smile. The sculptor has given particular attention to the woman's elaborate coiffure, which is almost as large as her head and provides a lively contrast to it. This fragmentary head was originally part of a full-sized figural sculpture. All Esie figures' heads are disproportionately large in relation to their bodies, a visual emphasis also common in the sculptural traditions of Ife, with which they have sometimes been compared. As in the arts of many African peoples, this visual accenting of the head was undoubtedly intended to reflect the importance accorded to it by the culture.