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A History of the World in 100 Objects

Factual: History

Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects

Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, narrates 100 programmes that retell humanity's history through the objects we have made.

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A History of the World in 100 Objects: Status Symbols (1200 - 1400 AD): Ife head

Ife Head

Ife head

Status Symbols (1200 - 1400 AD)

A History of the World in 100 Objects Omnibus

BBC Radio 4 - A History of the World in 100 Objects, Status Symbols (1200 - 1400 AD), Ife headSearch BBC

Neil MacGregor with a magnificent brass head from the African city of Ife.

The history of the world as told through objects arrives in 15th Century West Africa. Neil MacGregor tells the story of a magnificent brass head from Ife, a city now in Nigeria.

The history of humanity as told through one hundred objects from the British Museum is back in Africa. This week Neil MacGregor is exploring high status objects from across the world around 700 years ago. 

Today he has chosen a sculpture widely considered as one of the highest achievements of world art. It comes from Ife, a city now in South-Western Nigeria. It's a slightly less than life sized representation of a human head, made in brass at a time when metal casting had become a hugely sophisticated art. The head, with its deeply naturalistic features, was probably that of a great king or leader although its exact function remains uncertain. The head leads Neil to consider the political, economic and spiritual life of the Yoruba city state that produced it. The writer Ben Okri responds to the mood of the sculpture while the art historian Babatunde Lawal considers what role it might have played in traditional tribal life.

Producer: Anthony Denselow


A History of the World in 100 Objects: Status Symbols (1200 - 1400 AD)

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Neil MacGregor examines objects which hold status and required skilful making

Neil MacGregor explores this period of learning and scientific achievement through magnificent objects which were used by the wealthy to reflect their status

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A History of the World in 100 Objects

Status Symbols (1200 - 1400 AD)

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