Why Dakakari Terracottas Are So Rare
Among the many sculptural traditions of Nigeria, Dakakari (Dakarkari) terracotta funerary sculpture remains one of the least known and least documented. Yet precisely this marginal position — geographically, culturally, and historically — explains both its rarity and its importance.
A Small People, a Specific Tradition
The Dakakari are a small ethnic group living in the hilly regions of the Zuru Federation in northwest Nigeria. For centuries, their society was based primarily on agriculture and military service, with only two crafts holding particular cultural importance: ironworking and pottery.
Pottery was — and still is — practiced exclusively by women. While all women could produce utilitarian vessels, the creation of religious and funerary ceramics was restricted to certain families. This specialized knowledge was transmitted from mother to daughter, preserving both technical skill and ritual meaning over generations.
Sculpture Made for the Grave, Not the Market
In the history of African art, the Dakakari became known almost exclusively through their terracotta grave sculptures. These figures were never intended as decorative objects, nor were they produced for exchange or sale. Their sole function was funerary.
As described by Karl-Ferdinand Schaedler in Earth and Ore:
“The Dakarkari burial statues are placed on the graves of important personalities. Ordinary citizens receive only household pottery on their burial mounds as a sign of remembrance.”
(Schaedler, Earth and Ore, p. 258)
Only individuals of high status — such as village heads, war heroes, renowned hunters, leading blacksmiths, prominent farmers, and senior members of the secret men’s society Oknu — were commemorated with figurative sculpture. These individuals were often buried together with their wives and unmarried daughters.
The human figures themselves, both male and female, are known as “sons of the grave”, and in some regions are understood as servants of the deceased, accompanying them into the afterlife.
Technique and Style
Dakakari funerary figures are made using the ring-building (coil) technique, allowing the sculptor to conceal joints beneath decoratively shaped coils of clay. Arms, legs, and other anatomical features are typically implied rather than fully modeled, resulting in a schematic and highly expressive sculptural language.
Schaedler notes:
“Arms as well as characteristics of animals and humans are only suggested. The mouths, almost always open, are regarded in some villages as a sign of mourning.”
(Schaedler, Earth and Ore, p. 258)
These figures were traditionally placed outdoors on burial mounds, exposed to weather and time. As a result, many surviving examples are fragmentary, and fully preserved pieces are particularly rare.
An Unexpected Stylistic Connection
One of the most intriguing aspects of Dakakari sculpture is its stylistic relationship to the art of the Igala, a people whose territory lies several hundred kilometers away. According to Schaedler, some Dakakari burial figures — especially the small androgynous examples — show striking formal similarities to Igala masks and sculptures.
Through stylistic comparison and what Schaedler describes as trans-reminiscence, some of these androgynous figures have been tentatively dated to as early as the 17th century. Later examples sometimes include fetal forms reminiscent of Igala star figures, though these affinities gradually weaken as Dakakari sculpture develops a more abstract idiom.
Why Dakakari Terracottas Remain Rare Today
Several factors explain why Dakakari terracottas are seldom encountered on the market:
- They were never made for trade, only for funerary use
- Production was limited to a small population and restricted families
- Many figures were lost or damaged due to outdoor placement on graves
- The tradition remained largely undocumented until the late 20th century
- Their specificity has meant little incentive for forgery or reproduction
As a result, authentic Dakakari terracotta figures usually surface only through older European collections or long-established field acquisitions.
A Quietly Important Sculptural Tradition
Dakakari funerary terracottas do not seek visual dominance. Their power lies in restraint, abstraction, and cultural specificity. They are sculptures of memory rather than display — objects created to serve the dead, not the living.
For collectors and scholars alike, they represent one of the last truly under-recognized funerary sculptural traditions of Nigeria, where rarity is not the result of fashion, but of belief.
Reference:
Karl-Ferdinand Schaedler, Earth and Ore, p. 258
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