Early African art can be mysterious, magical and powerful. Hip pendant representing an Iyoba (Queen Mother), is a pendant made from Ivory, Iron and Copper (fig. 1). With a beige monotone color and little contrast, this piece gives a sense of unity. There was no known artist to tie this piece to, however it was thought that many servants of the "Queen Mother" made these pendants and wore them as a symbol of loyalty. The materials used being all metal, gives this piece not only a strong appearance but a stronger idea behind it as well. The color looks nude with these materials, which allows the viewer to not be distracted by anything but the concept and form. When the form and content work together they draw attention to the very center of this piece. The subtle cracks in the face are due to aging, however the two big diagonal lines in the center of the forehead along with the straight across vertical hairline make the content stand out more. .
The pendant is 93x8 cm and is about the size of a belt buckle. The pendant has a smooth texture on the lips and around the face, however the texture becomes more dominant on the scalp of the larger head and on the rough edges of the smaller faces aligning the face. The proportions of the face resemble much of a woman with a soft jaw structure, full lips and high cheekbones. The womanly face in comparison to the other faces surrounding her head are much smaller and contain less detail. These smaller heads contain long beards and hats that resemble much of a warrior helmet and are all unified in shape and size. Every other warrior shares similar facial features with either a straight beard in the shape of an upside down V, or the other ones in a circular fashion. The heads align around the top of the head, stopping at the ears and continue to wrap around the bottom of the face.
The positive and negative space is what really brings out the features in this piece.
