NOK, Nigeria. Chamotte clay with quartz grains. A very fine sculpture of a kneeling male figure, right leg bent, serene face with vestiges of a beard. The figure is wearing a headdress that could represent a calabash helmet. This sculpture is in the purest and most classical style of Nok art (triangular eyes with a pierced pupil, very pronounced nostrils from which the moustache extends and thick lips). Height: 51.5 cm. Minor chips and restorations. Provenance: Collection of a couple of collectors, Blois. Presumed to be 2000 years old (+/- 20%) according to the attached thermoluminescence certificate from the Ralf Kotalla laboratory, TL 05150104 dated 03 February 2004. Literature: See a similar sculpture, page 61, "Niassance de l'art en Afrique Noire", Nok statuary in Nigeria, Bernard de Grunne.