By Ebun Salako

In Nigeria, Ife people are not the only set of people known for bronze or brass casting. We have Igbo-Ukwu bronze, Benin Bronze, and Ife bronze.

IGBO-UKWU BRONZE: This is the oldest artistic culture of antiquities to be known in Igbo land. Its Existence was accidentally discovered by Isaiah Anozie while digging a water cistern in his compound. The scientific excavation was carried out in 1959 by Thurstan Shaw, an archaeologist from England. Igbo-Ukwu bronze was quite unlike Ife and Benin Bronze. It is done with the use of copper and alloy in Africa.

Igbo-Ukwu is a town in the Nigerian state of Anambra which was the site of three famous archaeological sites that revealed a highly sophisticated metal-working culture. The first, Igbo Isaiah, was uncovered in 1938 by Isaiah Anozie a local villager who stumbled upon the bronze works while digging beside his home. Subsequent excavations by Thurston Shaw in 1959 resulted in the discovery of two other sites, Igbo Richard and Igbo Jonah containing the remains of an ancient culture, including jewelry, ceramics, a corpse adorned in what appears to be regalia, and many assorted bronze, copper, and iron objects.

Ife Brass Or Bronze Casting:

This is the most famous naturalistic art that is comparable to Greek art, the envy of the European Renaissance. In Ile-Ife, Bronze Casting can be grouped under metalwork. Metal work is divided into two related divisions namely FORGING and ASUDE.

Forging is the blacksmith (known as Alagbede Dudu in Yorubaland) and ASUDE is the Bronze or Brass Smith which is the main focus of this lecture and will be fully discussed. The smiths are cast in brass and bronze and they are better known as bronze and brass casters.

Bronze casting can be associated with some families in Ile-Ife. This means that not every family in Ile-Ife knows how or is rooted in the art of bronze casting. There are five families noted for this work namely Maroko Keranjakun from Obalaaye Awonbiogbon compound, Okerewe Quarters of Ife, Lamidi Oke whose foundry is situated at Okiji Compound in Ife, Gbetu family, Jako Family and Benjamin Oluyemi Akerele of Obalaaye Pepeyelogun compound of Oke-Ayetoro Street. However, Benjamin Oluyemi Akerele and Lamidi Oke are the two prominent families who are still engaging in the art to date.

Method Of Bronze Casting:

The method used to cast bronze in both Ile-Ife and Benin is CIRE-PERDUE OF LOST WAX TECHNIQUE i.e. the method of casting melted metal through a mould. This method is old but still currently in use. In other words, there is no other method of bronze casting in Ile-Ife besides Cire Perdue of lost wax. It is a method by which a model is made in wax usually over a mud core. This model is then covered with several layers of mud. This model is left to dry after which the wax is melted out to be replaced by molten bronze poured into the model through a hole bored at the top. The baked mud or clay is finally broken away to express the cast.

Procedures Of Bronze Casting

*Core: it serves as the foundation on which core wax will be laid. It is made of clay. This core is just the shape of the object to be cast. During the molding of the core, features like nose, eyes, ears, etc are not shown on the core. The core is then left for five to ten days to dry before the next stage which is the Waxing Stage.

* Waxing: This is the most important stage in bronze casting because it determines what exactly will be produced or the end product of the exercise. The wax is used to mold the features like eyes, nose, mouth, ears, etc of the object and also it is on the wax that necessary designs are made. In order words, the model to be cast is made in wax over the mud core (the core made of clay). This core covered with wax is re-covered again with mud clay and then left for three to ten days to dry. It should be noted that during the covering of the figure with clay, all features on the wax appear or are reproduced on the wet clay.

*Melting of the wax from the enclosure: This is a stage when one has ascertained that the whole model is dry enough. The wax used to mold the object over the core is melted out by placing the whole model inside the naked fire in a foundry.

Casting: Before the object is cast, the metal or bronze to be used should be melted. The melting of the metal is one in the foundry. The solid metal to be used, for example, the wax pipe, is the first introduced into the fire to make it bristle and also to remove the elements of water from it.  When the metal is red-hot, it is hammered into the igneous stone into pieces.  These small pieces of metal or brass are put inside a crucible to be placed later on the fire for about one hour, depending on the intensity of the fire. When the metal is completely molten i.e. changed into liquid form, it is referred to as “MOLTEN BRONZE”. It is this molten bronze that is used for casting. During this process of casting, the molten bronze is poured into the model through the hole bored on the top. The molten bronze on the other hand replaces the features, shape, and form of the picture of the object which is already reproduced on the clay used to cover the wax. 

*Filing: After the removal of the baked clay and the core, the next stage is the filing and shining of the object. There are different types and shades of filing required for this. We have the manual (hand) files and the electric files depending on the size of the object. After intensive filing, brazo (a liquid chemical) is applied on the bronze object to clean any form of dirt off and thereafter the brazo is cleaned with cotton wool to reveal the true colour and shining of the object.

Arts practice is on the decline in Ile-Ife, why?

There are several reasons for the decline of the practice of arts in Ile-Ife. Investigations revealed that chief among the factors for this decline is the fact that the income of the artists is not commensurate with the efforts put in.

Second, even though the price that these bronze works attract is small, the cost of materials keeps rising daily.

Third, most Ife Artists these day commercialize their products i.e. they sell what they produce instead of keeping some antiquities. Hence, the government should come to their aid either by compensating them for any work produced or providing subvention to the artist.

Conclusion

Finally, the Artists themselves have the responsibility of presenting their predicaments to both the public and private sectors. Government at all tiers, (Local, State, and Federal) have very significant roles to play if the practice of art is to be sustained. They should note that ARTS in any form can also be a medium of not only internally generated revenue but also strengthen the nation’s foreign exchange as arts constitute part of the tourism world which can be a source of revenue if properly handled.

Salami works with the National Commission for Museums & Monuments, AKURE.