Waist-pendant; lost-wax cast in brass. Single large suspension loop at back. Series of suspension loops around outer edge. Depicts single female figure in high relief wearing pinted headdress, armlets and anklets and beaded collar. Figure holds circular ?vessel at left proper shoulder.
The term ‘Lower Niger Bronze Industry’ was created and first used by William Buller Fagg (1957, 1963, 1970) to identify a miscellaneous group of lost-wax cast objects which were stylistically and/or iconographically distinct from Igbo-Ukwu, Ife and Benin City pieces. The objects are associated with various locations in southern Nigeria, south of the confluence of Benue and Niger Rivers and between the borders with the Republic of Benin and Cameroon. They are thought to have been made prior to European contact, circa pre-1500 A.D. Sometimes referred to as the ‘Lower Niger Bronze Industries’ or ‘Lower Niger Bronzes’. Fagg, William B. (1957) ‘Introduction’. In Plass, Margaret. Lost wax; metal casting on the Guinea Coast. London: London Institute of Contemporary Arts. Fagg, William. (1963). Nigerian images: The splendor of African sculpture. New York ; London: Praeger. Fagg, William. (1970) Divine Kingship in Africa. London: Published for the Trustees of the British Museum by British Museum Publications. ~Register 1954: Brass scutiform pendant with a figure of a woman holding a pot on her shoulder, in high relief, the head is modelled in the round, there is a large ring at the back of the head of the figure, seven small rings are attached to the lower edge of the pendant, others have been broken off. Cf. 1934.10-25.1. BENIN.