Nigerian Girl
Entry ID
-
65 (18/01/2022)
Formal title of the work
-
Nigerian Girl
Description of the sculpture
-
A plaster and wood bust of a young Nigerian woman. Her hair is styled with intricate braids upon head and she wears earrings and a beaded necklace.
URLs where this is recorded/available
Type of object
-
Bust – Portrait
Base
-
Base present - appears to be the original base
Dimensions
-
Height: 45 cm
-
Width: 13. 5 cm
-
Depth: 11.5 cm
Materials
-
Plaster
-
Wood (unidentified)
-
Paint / pigment
Specific techniques used
-
Casting
-
Polychromy
-
Carving
Overall colour
-
Monochrome – brown
Does the Black person have a specific identity?
-
Anonymous: specific individual but not currently identifiable
Role within sculpture
-
Main protagonist
Gender
-
Female
Age
-
Adult
-
Adolescent
Status
-
Free citizen
-
Uncertain
Clothing
-
No clothes included (head)
Evidence of enslavement
-
None
Evidence of 'exotic' status
-
Earrings (often a single pearl)
Action or activity
-
Not relevant (head)
Emotional state
-
Neutral/emotionless
Focus of gaze of Black person
-
Looking outwards (engaging viewer)
Sculptural context
-
No location included/implied
-
Rural: Indigenous
Sculptor
Place of production
Period of production
-
Twentieth century (1900-1999)
Date of Production
-
1906
Date inferred from
-
Recorded in related documentation
Price history
-
July 1990: £1200 (£2,396.37 in 2021)
Original purpose
-
Decorative
-
Unknown
Original display setting
-
Unknown
Current / most recently known location
Accession number
-
etlms:4715
Provenance history
-
Bequest from Mrs Jean Mears, daughter of T J Clapperton
Notes
-
The sitter was the servant of a Nigerian princess who was in London for her education in the early twentieth century.
-
Clapperton worked on a series of commissions inspired by the explorer Mungo Park’s account of his time in Nigeria. A statue by Andrew Currie in the explorer’s home town of Selkirk is enhanced by bronze relief panels and four life size figures which reflect Park’s tales of Nigeria.
Current rights holder
License terms for reuse
http://13.41.147.145/s/database/item/49, . (no date) ‘Nigerian Girl’, Black People in European Sculpture, accessed May 5, 2025, http://13.41.147.145/s/database/item/556
