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Technical case study:A monumental Nok terra cotta sculpture
Sarah BarackSummer Teachers Institute
in Technical Art History
The object suffered a catastrophic accident, leaving it in 50+ fragments, or sherds
During treatment, before fills were made to compensate for losses (note the visible break edges in the head, face, and leg)
Examples of Nok figures, with schematic drawing of a Nok fragment above
CT Scan of Nok figureNote multiple fragments contained within the object, not visible during
examination under visible light
Note highly stylized features and pierced pupils/nostrils
Coiling a pot, a traditional ceramic working technique
Open-pit firing, note the uneven heat and stacking of the pieces
Interior of the “Nok” sculpture; note the similarities between the coiling image above and the ring around the bottom of the stool seen here
Sherd from “Nok” sculpture; note the thick, brown adhesive line
Back of the “Nok” sculpture, view into head section before hair
reattached
Technical Study• FTIR (Fourier Transform
Infra-red Spectroscopy)• CT Scanning (Computer
Tomography• Thermoluminescence
Dating (TL)
FTIR
CT Scan
The sculpture entering the CT scanner, as seen from the control room
A scan image, capturing surface detail; note the break edges identifying
individual sherds
CT Scan
CT Scan images; arrows connote the small, square fragment present on the back of the sculpture
TL Dating
Note presence of holes in the middle of the square fragment
Technical case study:A Nok monumental terra cotta sculpture
THANK YOU toAXA Art for their support of this project