African treasures that tell the story of medieval Nigeria

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The British Museum exhibition is the first to tell the story of Ife in Nigeria, one of the most accomplished and cosmopolitan cities in west Africa.

The treasures are so highly regarded in Africa that the Oni — or king — of Nigeria will attend tomorrow's official opening, which also marks the 50th anniversary of Nigerian independence from British colonial rule.

Many of the sculptures have never been seen in the UK before. The main exception is a group discovered in 1938 which were conserved and shown at the British Museum in 1948 when the last Oni brought two of the heads from his palace collection with him.

The small display astonished visitors who could scarcely believe the works were from Africa, nor that they were so old. The major highlights date from the 13th to 15th centuries.

Curator Julie Hudson said she hoped the new exhibition would engender similar wonder. "Some people will not have heard of Ife and may not be aware that work of such accomplishment was produced in Africa in the medieval period," she said.

"The naturalism of the work is also so startling. When they were first discovered — in 1910 and then in 1938 — they challenged people's assumptions about the nature of African art. When the British Museum showed them, they created quite a sensation.

"But they haven't been seen widely outside Nigeria since then so we're discovering them anew. The response we've had so far is that people are astounded again."

Nearly all the 100 pieces come from the National Commission for Museums and Monuments in Nigeria, with whom the British Museum has a training scheme for young African curators.