LaurieAnnie's photos with the keyword: Benin

Title: Plaque: Warrior and Attendants Artist: Edo artist Date: 16th–17th century Geography: Nigeria, Igun-Eronmwen guild, Court of Benin Culture: Edo Medium: Brass Dimensions: H. 18 3/4 × W. 15 × D. 4 1/4 in. (47.6 × 38.1 × 10.8 cm) Classification: Metal-Sculpture Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1990 Accession Number: 1990.332 During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a remarkable series of works were created to adorn the exterior of the royal palace in Benin City. A seventeenth-century Dutch visitor to the court of Benin, Olfert Dapper, described the sprawling palace complex—with its many large courtyards and galleries—as containing wooden pillars covered from top to bottom with rectangular cast brass plaques. These plaques are understood to have autonomous meaning and to tell complex narratives in relationship to one another. At some point the plaques were removed from the palace facade, as they were no longer there when the British arrived in the region. One scholar has surmised that they "were kept like a card index…, and referred to when there was a dispute about courtly etiquette." The authors of such works were far more concerned with the communication of hierarchies and status than in capturing individual physical features. These plaques conform to a convention of "hierarchical proportions" wherein the largest figure is the one with the greatest authority and rank. In this example, it is a warrior chief. He is in the center, flanked on either side by soldiers of lesser rank. Regalia and symbols of status are emphasized above all other aspects of the subject depicted. For example, the warrior is shown with leopard-spot scarification marks and a leopard-tooth necklace, which associate him with the stealth, speed, and ferocity of the leopard. As "king of the bush," the leopard is one of the principle symbols of Benin kingship. Additionally, the warrior chief wears a coral-studded helmet and collar, a lavish wrap, and a brass ornament on his hip. In his left hand he carries a ceremonial sword, a gesture of honor and loyalty, and holds a spear in his other hand. The servile status of the figures flanking the warrior chief is indicated by the objects they carry. One attendant has a fan used to cool the warrior chief, the other a trumpet to announce his presence. A third attendant brings a box containing an offering of kola nuts for the oba (king). The Legacy of Benin Court Art: From Tragedy to Resilience At its origins, the centralized city-state of Benin was founded by Edo-speaking peoples. The accounts by official court historians and descriptions provided by visitors evoke a vibrant cultural center continually redefined by its leadership through shifting internal and external power dynamics. According to oral tradition, circa 1300, Edo chiefs are reputed to have reached out to the leader of neighboring Ife, Oranmiyan, to establish a new divinely sanctioned royal dynasty. Since then, the investiture of Benin’s rulers to the title of obas has conferred upon them at once a role of chief priest officiating in important religious ceremonies and presiding over an elaborate structure of palace officials. During the fifteenth century reign of Oba Ewuare, Benin’s armies were formed and the fortification of its capital with a massive wall undertaken. In parallel, delegations of Portuguese traders assiduously sought to secure exclusive commercial treaties with this leader of the region’s most powerful polity. At its height in 1500, Benin’s authority extended to the Niger delta in the east and to the coastal lagoon of Lagos in the west. Its major exports of pepper, textiles, and ivory were exchanged for copious quantities of imported metals. This access to an influx of brass led to an explosion of creativity by court artists who transformed it into works for the palace ranging from ancestral portraits, positioned on royal altars, to decorative plaques depicting the oba, his courtiers, and foreign interlocutors. From the earliest such exchanges, those Europeans commissioned exquisite ivory artifacts from Edo carvers for princely collections back home. For nearly five hundred years, Benin’s independent leaders firmly established the terms of engagement with Portuguese, Dutch, and French agents and effectively represented their own interests. Despite the demands of the Atlantic Slave trade, for centuries they limited their participation to selling prisoners of war to the Portuguese. Historians have suggested that this only changed during the eighteenth century when escalation of contests among regional polities created a demand for access to European firearms. During that later period instability engendered by disputes over succession and civil war was further fueled through the exchange of captives for firearms. A number of internal and external developments that followed in the nineteenth century impacted the standing and vulnerability of Benin’s monarchs. Under Oba Adolo, the balance of power appears to have favored the more powerful chiefs and by the early years of his successor Ovonramwen’s reign, bitter feuds and seditious conspiracies divided their ranks. This shift was manifest in the increased emphasis on the oba’s ceremonial and ritual activities and the aggrandizement of chiefly residences that outstripped the palace. Concurrently significant changes were unfolding around Benin: Islam was in the ascendant in the rival state of Oyo; Christianity was embraced by the southern Yoruba; abolition of the slave trade was leading to the demise of the Itsekiri monarchy; and local British officials were increasingly determined to undermine the oba’s authority. The British invasion of the capital of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 was part of a campaign waged from 1892 through 1902 to forcibly bring most of the inland territory of modern-day Nigeria under British rule. With the British conquest of Benin City, Oba Ovonramwen was exiled to Calabar and soldiers plundered the palace. The brutality of the removal of its contents has forever decoupled altars dedicated to each individual oba dating from 1300 to Benin’s conquest with the specific works conceived to commemorate them. Directly following the military action some 200 Benin artifacts were given to the British Museum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs while others were sold on the international art market. In addition to dealers and private collectors the major clientele at this time were newly established ethnographic museums in the West. Following Ovonramwen’s death in 1913, his son Eweka II was restored to the office within a British protectorate and prioritized a renewal of artistic patronage in Benin City. Subsequent to the nineteenth century dispersal of Benin works, awareness of their extraordinary aesthetic power, beauty, and complexity profoundly influenced Black public intellectuals. Notable among these in the U.S. were W.E.B. Dubois, Alain Locke and artists from the Harlem Renaissance on. At the same time, their relegation to ethnographic museums during the colonial era continues to reflect the legacy of their forceful removal and segregation from comparable cultural achievements by Western creators. In 1950 a selection of Benin works were transferred through sale, exchange, and donation from the British Museum to what is today Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments for display in Benin City and Lagos. In 1960 with the establishment of the Federation of Nigeria as a nation, Benin City became the capital of Edo State. Exemplars of this tradition today conserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art were given to this institution in 1969 and 1991 by individuals who acquired them on the international art market to at once make them accessible to the public and celebrate their excellence. In 2016 Oba Ewuare II assumed the title of Benin’s current oba. He has noted that while such works "have come to serve as ambassadors of our culture around the world," a priority is the building of a new museum devoted to this legacy in Benin City. Designed by David Adjaye, this major cultural initiative embedded in the very fabric of the ancient city walls promises to afford expanded opportunities to understand and reflect on the significance of this living tradition at its source as well as those for international collaboration. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/316393

Title: Plaque: Warrior and Attendants Artist: Edo artist Date: 16th–17th century Geography: Nigeria, Igun-Eronmwen guild, Court of Benin Culture: Edo Medium: Brass Dimensions: H. 18 3/4 × W. 15 × D. 4 1/4 in. (47.6 × 38.1 × 10.8 cm) Classification: Metal-Sculpture Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1990 Accession Number: 1990.332 During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a remarkable series of works were created to adorn the exterior of the royal palace in Benin City. A seventeenth-century Dutch visitor to the court of Benin, Olfert Dapper, described the sprawling palace complex—with its many large courtyards and galleries—as containing wooden pillars covered from top to bottom with rectangular cast brass plaques. These plaques are understood to have autonomous meaning and to tell complex narratives in relationship to one another. At some point the plaques were removed from the palace facade, as they were no longer there when the British arrived in the region. One scholar has surmised that they "were kept like a card index…, and referred to when there was a dispute about courtly etiquette." The authors of such works were far more concerned with the communication of hierarchies and status than in capturing individual physical features. These plaques conform to a convention of "hierarchical proportions" wherein the largest figure is the one with the greatest authority and rank. In this example, it is a warrior chief. He is in the center, flanked on either side by soldiers of lesser rank. Regalia and symbols of status are emphasized above all other aspects of the subject depicted. For example, the warrior is shown with leopard-spot scarification marks and a leopard-tooth necklace, which associate him with the stealth, speed, and ferocity of the leopard. As "king of the bush," the leopard is one of the principle symbols of Benin kingship. Additionally, the warrior chief wears a coral-studded helmet and collar, a lavish wrap, and a brass ornament on his hip. In his left hand he carries a ceremonial sword, a gesture of honor and loyalty, and holds a spear in his other hand. The servile status of the figures flanking the warrior chief is indicated by the objects they carry. One attendant has a fan used to cool the warrior chief, the other a trumpet to announce his presence. A third attendant brings a box containing an offering of kola nuts for the oba (king). The Legacy of Benin Court Art: From Tragedy to Resilience At its origins, the centralized city-state of Benin was founded by Edo-speaking peoples. The accounts by official court historians and descriptions provided by visitors evoke a vibrant cultural center continually redefined by its leadership through shifting internal and external power dynamics. According to oral tradition, circa 1300, Edo chiefs are reputed to have reached out to the leader of neighboring Ife, Oranmiyan, to establish a new divinely sanctioned royal dynasty. Since then, the investiture of Benin’s rulers to the title of obas has conferred upon them at once a role of chief priest officiating in important religious ceremonies and presiding over an elaborate structure of palace officials. During the fifteenth century reign of Oba Ewuare, Benin’s armies were formed and the fortification of its capital with a massive wall undertaken. In parallel, delegations of Portuguese traders assiduously sought to secure exclusive commercial treaties with this leader of the region’s most powerful polity. At its height in 1500, Benin’s authority extended to the Niger delta in the east and to the coastal lagoon of Lagos in the west. Its major exports of pepper, textiles, and ivory were exchanged for copious quantities of imported metals. This access to an influx of brass led to an explosion of creativity by court artists who transformed it into works for the palace ranging from ancestral portraits, positioned on royal altars, to decorative plaques depicting the oba, his courtiers, and foreign interlocutors. From the earliest such exchanges, those Europeans commissioned exquisite ivory artifacts from Edo carvers for princely collections back home. For nearly five hundred years, Benin’s independent leaders firmly established the terms of engagement with Portuguese, Dutch, and French agents and effectively represented their own interests. Despite the demands of the Atlantic Slave trade, for centuries they limited their participation to selling prisoners of war to the Portuguese. Historians have suggested that this only changed during the eighteenth century when escalation of contests among regional polities created a demand for access to European firearms. During that later period instability engendered by disputes over succession and civil war was further fueled through the exchange of captives for firearms. A number of internal and external developments that followed in the nineteenth century impacted the standing and vulnerability of Benin’s monarchs. Under Oba Adolo, the balance of power appears to have favored the more powerful chiefs and by the early years of his successor Ovonramwen’s reign, bitter feuds and seditious conspiracies divided their ranks. This shift was manifest in the increased emphasis on the oba’s ceremonial and ritual activities and the aggrandizement of chiefly residences that outstripped the palace. Concurrently significant changes were unfolding around Benin: Islam was in the ascendant in the rival state of Oyo; Christianity was embraced by the southern Yoruba; abolition of the slave trade was leading to the demise of the Itsekiri monarchy; and local British officials were increasingly determined to undermine the oba’s authority. The British invasion of the capital of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 was part of a campaign waged from 1892 through 1902 to forcibly bring most of the inland territory of modern-day Nigeria under British rule. With the British conquest of Benin City, Oba Ovonramwen was exiled to Calabar and soldiers plundered the palace. The brutality of the removal of its contents has forever decoupled altars dedicated to each individual oba dating from 1300 to Benin’s conquest with the specific works conceived to commemorate them. Directly following the military action some 200 Benin artifacts were given to the British Museum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs while others were sold on the international art market. In addition to dealers and private collectors the major clientele at this time were newly established ethnographic museums in the West. Following Ovonramwen’s death in 1913, his son Eweka II was restored to the office within a British protectorate and prioritized a renewal of artistic patronage in Benin City. Subsequent to the nineteenth century dispersal of Benin works, awareness of their extraordinary aesthetic power, beauty, and complexity profoundly influenced Black public intellectuals. Notable among these in the U.S. were W.E.B. Dubois, Alain Locke and artists from the Harlem Renaissance on. At the same time, their relegation to ethnographic museums during the colonial era continues to reflect the legacy of their forceful removal and segregation from comparable cultural achievements by Western creators. In 1950 a selection of Benin works were transferred through sale, exchange, and donation from the British Museum to what is today Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments for display in Benin City and Lagos. In 1960 with the establishment of the Federation of Nigeria as a nation, Benin City became the capital of Edo State. Exemplars of this tradition today conserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art were given to this institution in 1969 and 1991 by individuals who acquired them on the international art market to at once make them accessible to the public and celebrate their excellence. In 2016 Oba Ewuare II assumed the title of Benin’s current oba. He has noted that while such works "have come to serve as ambassadors of our culture around the world," a priority is the building of a new museum devoted to this legacy in Benin City. Designed by David Adjaye, this major cultural initiative embedded in the very fabric of the ancient city walls promises to afford expanded opportunities to understand and reflect on the significance of this living tradition at its source as well as those for international collaboration. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/316393

Title: Head of an Oba Artist: Edo artist Date: 16th century Geography: Nigeria, Igun-Eronmwen guild, Court of Benin Culture: Edo artist Medium: Brass Dimensions: H. 9 1/4 x W. 8 5/8 x D. 9 in. (23.5 x 21.9 x 22.9 cm) Classification: Metal-Sculpture Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 Accession Number: 1979.206.86 This commemorative cast-brass sculpture depicts the idealized likeness of an oba, or king, wearing a woven cap of coral beads, with lateral strands of coral suspended around both ears. A single bead extends from the headdress to the forehead, aligned with the ridge of the nose, creating bilateral symmetry. The youthful face is round and rendered with precise naturalism. A rolled collar is worn low on the neck and is characteristic of imagery associated with Benin rulers. A circular opening at the summit of the head would have accommodated a carved elephant tusk. This sculpture would have held a place of honor on an altar in the palace of the kingdom of Benin (in present-day Nigeria), during the early half of the sixteenth century. The obas of Benin trace their origins to a ruling dynasty that began in the fourteenth century. The title of oba is passed on to the firstborn son at the time of the ruler’s death. The first obligation of the new king was to create a shrine, dedicated to his predecessor and serving as the site at which the living monarch communicated with his ancestor or father. Ensuring dynastic continuity, the shrine held various carved and cast artifacts, including freestanding brass heads such as this one. The head acted as a vessel through which the late king transferred his power to the new king, the latter accepting the responsibility for successfully directing and defining his life. The Edo people considered the head to be the locus of a man’s character, knowledge, authority, success, and family leadership. These sculptural heads were a consistent visual point of reference from ruler to ruler, reinforcing the idea of familial succession across a single dynasty. The oba is often called by his praise name “Great Head,” emphasizing the head of the living leader as the center of responsibility for the kingdom. Brass heads of the first half of the sixteenth century, such as this one, are distinguished by their naturalism and by the thin walls of their brass casting. The relatively minimal amount of brass used to make this light cast and the proportionately small amount of regalia depicted indicated that the head was created early on. Art historians have suggested that over the centuries, as greater quantities of brass became available, casters had less incentive to be economical with the material, and the trappings of office worn by the kings of Benin became more ostentatious. This genre of commemorative portraiture is highly stylized and does not portray recognizable facial features, but rather renders the deceased king at the prime of his life. The focus is on the regalia and materials of kingship: both brass and coral were items of wealth obtained by Benin’s leadership from Europe through the coastal trade. Coral is of particular significance to the Edo as a metaphor for the ancestral realm of the sea. The use of brass for commemorative heads dates to the fifteenth century, as a way for the Oranmiyan Dynasty rules to distinguish themselves from the previous dynasty of rules. During this time, artists of Benin in dialogue with their patrons developed a sculptural program for commemoration in which the depiction of the oba went from representational to idealization, reinforcing the continuity of the dynasty and its identification with a consistent ideal of leadership. Even today, the Edo value brass for its red color and shiny surface, which make it both beautiful and frightening, properties befitting the images of divine monarchs. Beyond aesthetic qualities, the use of brass conferred on the works a sense of permanence and imbued them with the potential to deflect evil. Bibliography Barley, Nigel. The Art of Benin. The British Museum Press: London, 2010. Dark, Phillip. An Illustrated Catalogue of Benin Art. G.K. Hall & co: Boston, 1982. Illus. 31 Ezra, Kate. Royal Art of Benin: The Perls Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York, 1992. LaGamma, Alisa. Heroic Africans: Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York, 2012. Plankensteiner, Barbara (ed.). Benin Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria. The Art Institute of Chicago: Chicago, 2007. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/312290

Title: Head of an Oba Artist: Edo artist Date: 16th century Geography: Nigeria, Igun-Eronmwen guild, Court of Benin Culture: Edo artist Medium: Brass Dimensions: H. 9 1/4 x W. 8 5/8 x D. 9 in. (23.5 x 21.9 x 22.9 cm) Classification: Metal-Sculpture Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 Accession Number: 1979.206.86 This commemorative cast-brass sculpture depicts the idealized likeness of an oba, or king, wearing a woven cap of coral beads, with lateral strands of coral suspended around both ears. A single bead extends from the headdress to the forehead, aligned with the ridge of the nose, creating bilateral symmetry. The youthful face is round and rendered with precise naturalism. A rolled collar is worn low on the neck and is characteristic of imagery associated with Benin rulers. A circular opening at the summit of the head would have accommodated a carved elephant tusk. This sculpture would have held a place of honor on an altar in the palace of the kingdom of Benin (in present-day Nigeria), during the early half of the sixteenth century. The obas of Benin trace their origins to a ruling dynasty that began in the fourteenth century. The title of oba is passed on to the firstborn son at the time of the ruler’s death. The first obligation of the new king was to create a shrine, dedicated to his predecessor and serving as the site at which the living monarch communicated with his ancestor or father. Ensuring dynastic continuity, the shrine held various carved and cast artifacts, including freestanding brass heads such as this one. The head acted as a vessel through which the late king transferred his power to the new king, the latter accepting the responsibility for successfully directing and defining his life. The Edo people considered the head to be the locus of a man’s character, knowledge, authority, success, and family leadership. These sculptural heads were a consistent visual point of reference from ruler to ruler, reinforcing the idea of familial succession across a single dynasty. The oba is often called by his praise name “Great Head,” emphasizing the head of the living leader as the center of responsibility for the kingdom. Brass heads of the first half of the sixteenth century, such as this one, are distinguished by their naturalism and by the thin walls of their brass casting. The relatively minimal amount of brass used to make this light cast and the proportionately small amount of regalia depicted indicated that the head was created early on. Art historians have suggested that over the centuries, as greater quantities of brass became available, casters had less incentive to be economical with the material, and the trappings of office worn by the kings of Benin became more ostentatious. This genre of commemorative portraiture is highly stylized and does not portray recognizable facial features, but rather renders the deceased king at the prime of his life. The focus is on the regalia and materials of kingship: both brass and coral were items of wealth obtained by Benin’s leadership from Europe through the coastal trade. Coral is of particular significance to the Edo as a metaphor for the ancestral realm of the sea. The use of brass for commemorative heads dates to the fifteenth century, as a way for the Oranmiyan Dynasty rules to distinguish themselves from the previous dynasty of rules. During this time, artists of Benin in dialogue with their patrons developed a sculptural program for commemoration in which the depiction of the oba went from representational to idealization, reinforcing the continuity of the dynasty and its identification with a consistent ideal of leadership. Even today, the Edo value brass for its red color and shiny surface, which make it both beautiful and frightening, properties befitting the images of divine monarchs. Beyond aesthetic qualities, the use of brass conferred on the works a sense of permanence and imbued them with the potential to deflect evil. Bibliography Barley, Nigel. The Art of Benin. The British Museum Press: London, 2010. Dark, Phillip. An Illustrated Catalogue of Benin Art. G.K. Hall & co: Boston, 1982. Illus. 31 Ezra, Kate. Royal Art of Benin: The Perls Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York, 1992. LaGamma, Alisa. Heroic Africans: Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York, 2012. Plankensteiner, Barbara (ed.). Benin Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria. The Art Institute of Chicago: Chicago, 2007. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/312290

Title: Head of an Oba Artist: Edo artist Date: 16th century Geography: Nigeria, Igun-Eronmwen guild, Court of Benin Culture: Edo artist Medium: Brass Dimensions: H. 9 1/4 x W. 8 5/8 x D. 9 in. (23.5 x 21.9 x 22.9 cm) Classification: Metal-Sculpture Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 Accession Number: 1979.206.86 This commemorative cast-brass sculpture depicts the idealized likeness of an oba, or king, wearing a woven cap of coral beads, with lateral strands of coral suspended around both ears. A single bead extends from the headdress to the forehead, aligned with the ridge of the nose, creating bilateral symmetry. The youthful face is round and rendered with precise naturalism. A rolled collar is worn low on the neck and is characteristic of imagery associated with Benin rulers. A circular opening at the summit of the head would have accommodated a carved elephant tusk. This sculpture would have held a place of honor on an altar in the palace of the kingdom of Benin (in present-day Nigeria), during the early half of the sixteenth century. The obas of Benin trace their origins to a ruling dynasty that began in the fourteenth century. The title of oba is passed on to the firstborn son at the time of the ruler’s death. The first obligation of the new king was to create a shrine, dedicated to his predecessor and serving as the site at which the living monarch communicated with his ancestor or father. Ensuring dynastic continuity, the shrine held various carved and cast artifacts, including freestanding brass heads such as this one. The head acted as a vessel through which the late king transferred his power to the new king, the latter accepting the responsibility for successfully directing and defining his life. The Edo people considered the head to be the locus of a man’s character, knowledge, authority, success, and family leadership. These sculptural heads were a consistent visual point of reference from ruler to ruler, reinforcing the idea of familial succession across a single dynasty. The oba is often called by his praise name “Great Head,” emphasizing the head of the living leader as the center of responsibility for the kingdom. Brass heads of the first half of the sixteenth century, such as this one, are distinguished by their naturalism and by the thin walls of their brass casting. The relatively minimal amount of brass used to make this light cast and the proportionately small amount of regalia depicted indicated that the head was created early on. Art historians have suggested that over the centuries, as greater quantities of brass became available, casters had less incentive to be economical with the material, and the trappings of office worn by the kings of Benin became more ostentatious. This genre of commemorative portraiture is highly stylized and does not portray recognizable facial features, but rather renders the deceased king at the prime of his life. The focus is on the regalia and materials of kingship: both brass and coral were items of wealth obtained by Benin’s leadership from Europe through the coastal trade. Coral is of particular significance to the Edo as a metaphor for the ancestral realm of the sea. The use of brass for commemorative heads dates to the fifteenth century, as a way for the Oranmiyan Dynasty rules to distinguish themselves from the previous dynasty of rules. During this time, artists of Benin in dialogue with their patrons developed a sculptural program for commemoration in which the depiction of the oba went from representational to idealization, reinforcing the continuity of the dynasty and its identification with a consistent ideal of leadership. Even today, the Edo value brass for its red color and shiny surface, which make it both beautiful and frightening, properties befitting the images of divine monarchs. Beyond aesthetic qualities, the use of brass conferred on the works a sense of permanence and imbued them with the potential to deflect evil. Bibliography Barley, Nigel. The Art of Benin. The British Museum Press: London, 2010. Dark, Phillip. An Illustrated Catalogue of Benin Art. G.K. Hall & co: Boston, 1982. Illus. 31 Ezra, Kate. Royal Art of Benin: The Perls Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York, 1992. LaGamma, Alisa. Heroic Africans: Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York, 2012. Plankensteiner, Barbara (ed.). Benin Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria. The Art Institute of Chicago: Chicago, 2007. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/312290

Title: Figure: Horn Player Artist: Edo artist Date: 1550–1680 Geography: Nigeria, Igun-Eronmwen guild, Court of Benin Culture: Edo Medium: Brass, iron Dimensions: H. 24 3/4 × W. 11 1/2 × D. 6 3/4 in. (62.9 × 29.2 × 17.2 cm) Classification: Metal-Sculpture Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1972 Accession Number: 1978.412.310 In the art of Benin, works in bronze can be commissioned only by the Oba, or ruler, or by others with his permission. According to oral traditions, the technique of lost-wax bronze casting was brought to Benin around the end of the fourteenth century from Ife, the ancient kingdom to the north noted for its exquisite cast-bronze commemorative heads. Prior to that time, Benin craftsmen produced hammered and incised, but not cast, bronze ornaments. Once the technique of lost-wax casting was mastered by the craftsmen of Benin, bronze heads and figures began to appear on the Oba's shrines. This figure of a court musician playing a side-blown trumpet attests to the technical virtuosity of the Benin bronze-casters. The figure's elaborately textured garment depicts the hide of a leopard, an animal associated with the power of the Oba. Similarly, the strands of coral around his neck and chest reaffirm this musician's status in the Benin court, since coral, like bronze and ivory, is a royal prerogative in Benin. The British invasion of the capital of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 led to the loss of contextual information about Benin works of art. Therefore, scholars attempt to reconstruct Benin art-historical chronologies and lineages utilizing a combination of written documents, oral histories, and analysis of physical attributes in the sculptures themselves. The Legacy of Benin Court Art: From Tragedy to Resilience At its origins, the centralized city-state of Benin was founded by Edo-speaking peoples. The accounts by official court historians and descriptions provided by visitors evoke a vibrant cultural center continually redefined by its leadership through shifting internal and external power dynamics. According to oral tradition, circa 1300, Edo chiefs are reputed to have reached out to the leader of neighboring Ife, Oranmiyan, to establish a new divinely sanctioned royal dynasty. Since then, the investiture of Benin’s rulers to the title of obas has conferred upon them at once a role of chief priest officiating in important religious ceremonies and presiding over an elaborate structure of palace officials. During the fifteenth century reign of Oba Ewuare, Benin’s armies were formed and the fortification of its capital with a massive wall undertaken. In parallel, delegations of Portuguese traders assiduously sought to secure exclusive commercial treaties with this leader of the region’s most powerful polity. At its height in 1500, Benin’s authority extended to the Niger delta in the east and to the coastal lagoon of Lagos in the west. Its major exports of pepper, textiles, and ivory were exchanged for copious quantities of imported metals. This access to an influx of brass led to an explosion of creativity by court artists who transformed it into works for the palace ranging from ancestral portraits, positioned on royal altars, to decorative plaques depicting the oba, his courtiers, and foreign interlocutors. From the earliest such exchanges, those Europeans commissioned exquisite ivory artifacts from Edo carvers for princely collections back home. For nearly five hundred years, Benin’s independent leaders firmly established the terms of engagement with Portuguese, Dutch, and French agents and effectively represented their own interests. Despite the demands of the Atlantic Slave trade, for centuries they limited their participation to selling prisoners of war to the Portuguese. Historians have suggested that this only changed during the eighteenth century when escalation of contests among regional polities created a demand for access to European firearms. During that later period instability engendered by disputes over succession and civil war was further fueled through the exchange of captives for firearms. A number of internal and external developments that followed in the nineteenth century impacted the standing and vulnerability of Benin’s monarchs. Under Oba Adolo, the balance of power appears to have favored the more powerful chiefs and by the early years of his successor Ovonramwen’s reign, bitter feuds and seditious conspiracies divided their ranks. This shift was manifest in the increased emphasis on the oba’s ceremonial and ritual activities and the aggrandizement of chiefly residences that outstripped the palace. Concurrently significant changes were unfolding around Benin: Islam was in the ascendant in the rival state of Oyo; Christianity was embraced by the southern Yoruba; abolition of the slave trade was leading to the demise of the Itsekiri monarchy; and local British officials were increasingly determined to undermine the oba’s authority. The British invasion of the capital of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 was part of a campaign waged from 1892 through 1902 to forcibly bring most of the inland territory of modern-day Nigeria under British rule. With the British conquest of Benin City, Oba Ovonramwen was exiled to Calabar and soldiers plundered the palace. The brutality of the removal of its contents has forever decoupled altars dedicated to each individual oba dating from 1300 to Benin’s conquest with the specific works conceived to commemorate them. Directly following the military action some 200 Benin artifacts were given to the British Museum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs while others were sold on the international art market. In addition to dealers and private collectors the major clientele at this time were newly established ethnographic museums in the West. Following Ovonramwen’s death in 1913, his son Eweka II was restored to the office within a British protectorate and prioritized a renewal of artistic patronage in Benin City. Subsequent to the nineteenth century dispersal of Benin works, awareness of their extraordinary aesthetic power, beauty, and complexity profoundly influenced Black public intellectuals. Notable among these in the U.S. were W.E.B. Dubois, Alain Locke and artists from the Harlem Renaissance on. At the same time, their relegation to ethnographic museums during the colonial era continues to reflect the legacy of their forceful removal and segregation from comparable cultural achievements by Western creators. In 1950 a selection of Benin works were transferred through sale, exchange, and donation from the British Museum to what is today Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments for display in Benin City and Lagos. In 1960 with the establishment of the Federation of Nigeria as a nation, Benin City became the capital of Edo State. Exemplars of this tradition today conserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art were given to this institution in 1969 and 1991 by individuals who acquired them on the international art market to at once make them accessible to the public and celebrate their excellence. In 2016 Oba Ewuare II assumed the title of Benin’s current oba. He has noted that while such works "have come to serve as ambassadors of our culture around the world," a priority is the building of a new museum devoted to this legacy in Benin City. Designed by David Adjaye, this major cultural initiative embedded in the very fabric of the ancient city walls promises to afford expanded opportunities to understand and reflect on the significance of this living tradition at its source as well as those for international collaboration. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/310753

Title: Figure: Horn Player Artist: Edo artist Date: 1550–1680 Geography: Nigeria, Igun-Eronmwen guild, Court of Benin Culture: Edo Medium: Brass, iron Dimensions: H. 24 3/4 × W. 11 1/2 × D. 6 3/4 in. (62.9 × 29.2 × 17.2 cm) Classification: Metal-Sculpture Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1972 Accession Number: 1978.412.310 In the art of Benin, works in bronze can be commissioned only by the Oba, or ruler, or by others with his permission. According to oral traditions, the technique of lost-wax bronze casting was brought to Benin around the end of the fourteenth century from Ife, the ancient kingdom to the north noted for its exquisite cast-bronze commemorative heads. Prior to that time, Benin craftsmen produced hammered and incised, but not cast, bronze ornaments. Once the technique of lost-wax casting was mastered by the craftsmen of Benin, bronze heads and figures began to appear on the Oba's shrines. This figure of a court musician playing a side-blown trumpet attests to the technical virtuosity of the Benin bronze-casters. The figure's elaborately textured garment depicts the hide of a leopard, an animal associated with the power of the Oba. Similarly, the strands of coral around his neck and chest reaffirm this musician's status in the Benin court, since coral, like bronze and ivory, is a royal prerogative in Benin. The British invasion of the capital of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 led to the loss of contextual information about Benin works of art. Therefore, scholars attempt to reconstruct Benin art-historical chronologies and lineages utilizing a combination of written documents, oral histories, and analysis of physical attributes in the sculptures themselves. The Legacy of Benin Court Art: From Tragedy to Resilience At its origins, the centralized city-state of Benin was founded by Edo-speaking peoples. The accounts by official court historians and descriptions provided by visitors evoke a vibrant cultural center continually redefined by its leadership through shifting internal and external power dynamics. According to oral tradition, circa 1300, Edo chiefs are reputed to have reached out to the leader of neighboring Ife, Oranmiyan, to establish a new divinely sanctioned royal dynasty. Since then, the investiture of Benin’s rulers to the title of obas has conferred upon them at once a role of chief priest officiating in important religious ceremonies and presiding over an elaborate structure of palace officials. During the fifteenth century reign of Oba Ewuare, Benin’s armies were formed and the fortification of its capital with a massive wall undertaken. In parallel, delegations of Portuguese traders assiduously sought to secure exclusive commercial treaties with this leader of the region’s most powerful polity. At its height in 1500, Benin’s authority extended to the Niger delta in the east and to the coastal lagoon of Lagos in the west. Its major exports of pepper, textiles, and ivory were exchanged for copious quantities of imported metals. This access to an influx of brass led to an explosion of creativity by court artists who transformed it into works for the palace ranging from ancestral portraits, positioned on royal altars, to decorative plaques depicting the oba, his courtiers, and foreign interlocutors. From the earliest such exchanges, those Europeans commissioned exquisite ivory artifacts from Edo carvers for princely collections back home. For nearly five hundred years, Benin’s independent leaders firmly established the terms of engagement with Portuguese, Dutch, and French agents and effectively represented their own interests. Despite the demands of the Atlantic Slave trade, for centuries they limited their participation to selling prisoners of war to the Portuguese. Historians have suggested that this only changed during the eighteenth century when escalation of contests among regional polities created a demand for access to European firearms. During that later period instability engendered by disputes over succession and civil war was further fueled through the exchange of captives for firearms. A number of internal and external developments that followed in the nineteenth century impacted the standing and vulnerability of Benin’s monarchs. Under Oba Adolo, the balance of power appears to have favored the more powerful chiefs and by the early years of his successor Ovonramwen’s reign, bitter feuds and seditious conspiracies divided their ranks. This shift was manifest in the increased emphasis on the oba’s ceremonial and ritual activities and the aggrandizement of chiefly residences that outstripped the palace. Concurrently significant changes were unfolding around Benin: Islam was in the ascendant in the rival state of Oyo; Christianity was embraced by the southern Yoruba; abolition of the slave trade was leading to the demise of the Itsekiri monarchy; and local British officials were increasingly determined to undermine the oba’s authority. The British invasion of the capital of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 was part of a campaign waged from 1892 through 1902 to forcibly bring most of the inland territory of modern-day Nigeria under British rule. With the British conquest of Benin City, Oba Ovonramwen was exiled to Calabar and soldiers plundered the palace. The brutality of the removal of its contents has forever decoupled altars dedicated to each individual oba dating from 1300 to Benin’s conquest with the specific works conceived to commemorate them. Directly following the military action some 200 Benin artifacts were given to the British Museum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs while others were sold on the international art market. In addition to dealers and private collectors the major clientele at this time were newly established ethnographic museums in the West. Following Ovonramwen’s death in 1913, his son Eweka II was restored to the office within a British protectorate and prioritized a renewal of artistic patronage in Benin City. Subsequent to the nineteenth century dispersal of Benin works, awareness of their extraordinary aesthetic power, beauty, and complexity profoundly influenced Black public intellectuals. Notable among these in the U.S. were W.E.B. Dubois, Alain Locke and artists from the Harlem Renaissance on. At the same time, their relegation to ethnographic museums during the colonial era continues to reflect the legacy of their forceful removal and segregation from comparable cultural achievements by Western creators. In 1950 a selection of Benin works were transferred through sale, exchange, and donation from the British Museum to what is today Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments for display in Benin City and Lagos. In 1960 with the establishment of the Federation of Nigeria as a nation, Benin City became the capital of Edo State. Exemplars of this tradition today conserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art were given to this institution in 1969 and 1991 by individuals who acquired them on the international art market to at once make them accessible to the public and celebrate their excellence. In 2016 Oba Ewuare II assumed the title of Benin’s current oba. He has noted that while such works "have come to serve as ambassadors of our culture around the world," a priority is the building of a new museum devoted to this legacy in Benin City. Designed by David Adjaye, this major cultural initiative embedded in the very fabric of the ancient city walls promises to afford expanded opportunities to understand and reflect on the significance of this living tradition at its source as well as those for international collaboration. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/310753

Title: Saltcellar with Portuguese Figures Artist: Master of the Heraldic Ship (Court of Owo or Benin, Nigerian) Date: ca. 1525–1600 Geography: Nigeria, Court of Owo or Benin Culture: Edo (Bini-Portuguese) Medium: Ivory Dimensions: H. 7 1/2 × W. 3 × D. 3 1/4 in. (19.1 × 7.6 × 8.3 cm) Classification: Bone/Ivory-Containers Credit Line: Louis V. Bell and Rogers Funds, 1972 Accession Number: 1972.63a, b This saltcellar created by a Benin ivory carver reflects a local interest and emphasis on extensive detailing of dress and regalia found in other forms of Benin court art. Articulated in exacting detail, four Portuguese male figures, two richly adorned men and their attendants, are depicted around the perimeter of the receptacle. The higher status figures are depicted frontally, facing outward. The attendants are in profile, more crudely rendered, and in motion. The two wealthier men are laden with the trappings of their status. This includes the patterned high-crowned hat with a feather decorating its brim, the knee britches, a buttoned doublet with flaring shoulders and sleeves and bodice, keys, crosses, swords, and spears. Two-dimensional fabric patterns are translated into low relief, endowing the work's surface with an intricately arranged series of textures. This baroque layering of forms nearly disguises the structure of the object. This particular saltcellar is one of four of almost identical design; the others are currently in European collections. It is believed that the four were intended as a set, perhaps as a gift for a patron's table. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/309900

Title: Figure: Horn Player Artist: Edo artist Date: 1550–1680 Geography: Nigeria, Igun-Eronmwen guild, Court of Benin Culture: Edo Medium: Brass Dimensions: H. 24 3/4 × W. 11 1/2 × D. 6 3/4 in. (62.9 × 29.2 × 17.2 cm) Classification: Metal-Sculpture Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1972 Accession Number: 1978.412.310 In the art of Benin, works in bronze can be commissioned only by the Oba, or ruler, or by others with his permission. According to oral traditions, the technique of lost-wax bronze casting was brought to Benin around the end of the fourteenth century from Ife, the ancient kingdom to the north noted for its exquisite cast-bronze commemorative heads. Prior to that time, Benin craftsmen produced hammered and incised, but not cast, bronze ornaments. Once the technique of lost-wax casting was mastered by the craftsmen of Benin, bronze heads and figures began to appear on the Oba's shrines. This figure of a court musician playing a side-blown trumpet attests to the technical virtuosity of the Benin bronze-casters. The figure's elaborately textured garment depicts the hide of a leopard, an animal associated with the power of the Oba. Similarly, the strands of coral around his neck and chest reaffirm this musician's status in the Benin court, since coral, like bronze and ivory, is a royal prerogative in Benin. The British invasion of the capital of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 led to the loss of contextual information about Benin works of art. Therefore, scholars attempt to reconstruct Benin art-historical chronologies and lineages utilizing a combination of written documents, oral histories, and analysis of physical attributes in the sculptures themselves. The Legacy of Benin Court Art: From Tragedy to Resilience At its origins, the centralized city-state of Benin was founded by Edo-speaking peoples. The accounts by official court historians and descriptions provided by visitors evoke a vibrant cultural center continually redefined by its leadership through shifting internal and external power dynamics. According to oral tradition, circa 1300, Edo chiefs are reputed to have reached out to the leader of neighboring Ife, Oranmiyan, to establish a new divinely sanctioned royal dynasty. Since then, the investiture of Benin’s rulers to the title of obas has conferred upon them at once a role of chief priest officiating in important religious ceremonies and presiding over an elaborate structure of palace officials. During the fifteenth century reign of Oba Ewuare, Benin’s armies were formed and the fortification of its capital with a massive wall undertaken. In parallel, delegations of Portuguese traders assiduously sought to secure exclusive commercial treaties with this leader of the region’s most powerful polity. At its height in 1500, Benin’s authority extended to the Niger delta in the east and to the coastal lagoon of Lagos in the west. Its major exports of pepper, textiles, and ivory were exchanged for copious quantities of imported metals. This access to an influx of brass led to an explosion of creativity by court artists who transformed it into works for the palace ranging from ancestral portraits, positioned on royal altars, to decorative plaques depicting the oba, his courtiers, and foreign interlocutors. From the earliest such exchanges, those Europeans commissioned exquisite ivory artifacts from Edo carvers for princely collections back home. For nearly five hundred years, Benin’s independent leaders firmly established the terms of engagement with Portuguese, Dutch, and French agents and effectively represented their own interests. Despite the demands of the Atlantic Slave trade, for centuries they limited their participation to selling prisoners of war to the Portuguese. Historians have suggested that this only changed during the eighteenth century when escalation of contests among regional polities created a demand for access to European firearms. During that later period instability engendered by disputes over succession and civil war was further fueled through the exchange of captives for firearms. A number of internal and external developments that followed in the nineteenth century impacted the standing and vulnerability of Benin’s monarchs. Under Oba Adolo, the balance of power appears to have favored the more powerful chiefs and by the early years of his successor Ovonramwen’s reign, bitter feuds and seditious conspiracies divided their ranks. This shift was manifest in the increased emphasis on the oba’s ceremonial and ritual activities and the aggrandizement of chiefly residences that outstripped the palace. Concurrently significant changes were unfolding around Benin: Islam was in the ascendant in the rival state of Oyo; Christianity was embraced by the southern Yoruba; abolition of the slave trade was leading to the demise of the Itsekiri monarchy; and local British officials were increasingly determined to undermine the oba’s authority. The British invasion of the capital of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 was part of a campaign waged from 1892 through 1902 to forcibly bring most of the inland territory of modern-day Nigeria under British rule. With the British conquest of Benin City, Oba Ovonramwen was exiled to Calabar and soldiers plundered the palace. The brutality of the removal of its contents has forever decoupled altars dedicated to each individual oba dating from 1300 to Benin’s conquest with the specific works conceived to commemorate them. Directly following the military action some 200 Benin artifacts were given to the British Museum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs while others were sold on the international art market. In addition to dealers and private collectors the major clientele at this time were newly established ethnographic museums in the West. Following Ovonramwen’s death in 1913, his son Eweka II was restored to the office within a British protectorate and prioritized a renewal of artistic patronage in Benin City. Subsequent to the nineteenth century dispersal of Benin works, awareness of their extraordinary aesthetic power, beauty, and complexity profoundly influenced Black public intellectuals. Notable among these in the U.S. were W.E.B. Dubois, Alain Locke and artists from the Harlem Renaissance on. At the same time, their relegation to ethnographic museums during the colonial era continues to reflect the legacy of their forceful removal and segregation from comparable cultural achievements by Western creators. In 1950 a selection of Benin works were transferred through sale, exchange, and donation from the British Museum to what is today Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments for display in Benin City and Lagos. In 1960 with the establishment of the Federation of Nigeria as a nation, Benin City became the capital of Edo State. Exemplars of this tradition today conserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art were given to this institution in 1969 and 1991 by individuals who acquired them on the international art market to at once make them accessible to the public and celebrate their excellence. In 2016 Oba Ewuare II assumed the title of Benin’s current oba. He has noted that while such works "have come to serve as ambassadors of our culture around the world," a priority is the building of a new museum devoted to this legacy in Benin City. Designed by David Adjaye, this major cultural initiative embedded in the very fabric of the ancient city walls promises to afford expanded opportunities to understand and reflect on the significance of this living tradition at its source as well as those for international collaboration. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/310753

Warrior Chief and Attendants, 16th–17th century Nigeria; Edo peoples, court of Benin Brass; H. 18 3/4 in. (47.6 cm) Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1990 (1990.332) During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a remarkable series of works were created to adorn the exterior of the royal palace in Benin City. A seventeenth-century Dutch visitor to the court of Benin, Olfert Dapper, described the sprawling palace complex—with its many large courtyards and galleries—as containing wooden pillars covered from top to bottom with rectangular cast brass plaques. These plaques are understood to have autonomous meaning and to tell complex narratives in relationship to one another. At some point the plaques were removed from the palace facade, as they were no longer there when the British arrived in the region. One scholar has surmised that they "were kept like a card index up to the time of the Punitive Expedition, and referred to when there was a dispute about courtly etiquette." The authors of such works were far more concerned with the communication of hierarchies and status than in capturing individual physical features. These plaques conform to a convention of "hierarchical proportions" wherein the largest figure is the one with the greatest authority and rank. In this example, it is a warrior chief. He is in the center, flanked on either side by soldiers of lesser rank. Regalia and symbols of status are emphasized above all other aspects of the subject depicted. For example, the warrior is shown with leopard-spot scarification marks and a leopard-tooth necklace, which associate him with the stealth, speed, and ferocity of the leopard. As "king of the bush," the leopard is one of the principle symbols of Benin kingship. Additionally, the warrior chief wears a coral-studded helmet and collar, a lavish wrap, and a brass ornament on his hip. In his left hand he carries a ceremonial sword, a gesture of honor and loyalty, and holds a spear in his other hand. The servile status of the figures flanking the warrior chief is indicated by the objects they carry. One attendant has a fan used to cool the warrior chief, the other a trumpet to announce his presence. A third attendant brings a box containing an offering of kola nuts for the oba (king). Text from: www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/08/sfg/hod_1990.332.htm

Altar Tableau with Queen Mother and Attendants Nigeria, Kingdom of Benin, Edo peoples 18th century Brass Accession # 1991.17.111 Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.

Altar to the Hand of the Ezomo (Ikegobo) Nigeria, Kingdom of Benin, Edo peoples 18th-19th Century Brass Accession # 1996.11 Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.

Title: Head of an Oba Artist: Edo artist Date: 16th century Geography: Nigeria, Igun-Eronmwen guild, Court of Benin Culture: Edo artist Medium: Brass Dimensions: H. 9 1/4 x W. 8 5/8 x D. 9 in. (23.5 x 21.9 x 22.9 cm) Classification: Metal-Sculpture Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 Accession Number: 1979.206.86 This commemorative cast-brass sculpture depicts the idealized likeness of an oba, or king, wearing a woven cap of coral beads, with lateral strands of coral suspended around both ears. A single bead extends from the headdress to the forehead, aligned with the ridge of the nose, creating bilateral symmetry. The youthful face is round and rendered with precise naturalism. A rolled collar is worn low on the neck and is characteristic of imagery associated with Benin rulers. A circular opening at the summit of the head would have accommodated a carved elephant tusk. This sculpture would have held a place of honor on an altar in the palace of the kingdom of Benin (in present-day Nigeria), during the early half of the sixteenth century. The obas of Benin trace their origins to a ruling dynasty that began in the fourteenth century. The title of oba is passed on to the firstborn son at the time of the ruler’s death. The first obligation of the new king was to create a shrine, dedicated to his predecessor and serving as the site at which the living monarch communicated with his ancestor or father. Ensuring dynastic continuity, the shrine held various carved and cast artifacts, including freestanding brass heads such as this one. The head acted as a vessel through which the late king transferred his power to the new king, the latter accepting the responsibility for successfully directing and defining his life. The Edo people considered the head to be the locus of a man’s character, knowledge, authority, success, and family leadership. These sculptural heads were a consistent visual point of reference from ruler to ruler, reinforcing the idea of familial succession across a single dynasty. The oba is often called by his praise name “Great Head,” emphasizing the head of the living leader as the center of responsibility for the kingdom. Brass heads of the first half of the sixteenth century, such as this one, are distinguished by their naturalism and by the thin walls of their brass casting. The relatively minimal amount of brass used to make this light cast and the proportionately small amount of regalia depicted indicated that the head was created early on. Art historians have suggested that over the centuries, as greater quantities of brass became available, casters had less incentive to be economical with the material, and the trappings of office worn by the kings of Benin became more ostentatious. This genre of commemorative portraiture is highly stylized and does not portray recognizable facial features, but rather renders the deceased king at the prime of his life. The focus is on the regalia and materials of kingship: both brass and coral were items of wealth obtained by Benin’s leadership from Europe through the coastal trade. Coral is of particular significance to the Edo as a metaphor for the ancestral realm of the sea. The use of brass for commemorative heads dates to the fifteenth century, as a way for the Oranmiyan Dynasty rules to distinguish themselves from the previous dynasty of rules. During this time, artists of Benin in dialogue with their patrons developed a sculptural program for commemoration in which the depiction of the oba went from representational to idealization, reinforcing the continuity of the dynasty and its identification with a consistent ideal of leadership. Even today, the Edo value brass for its red color and shiny surface, which make it both beautiful and frightening, properties befitting the images of divine monarchs. Beyond aesthetic qualities, the use of brass conferred on the works a sense of permanence and imbued them with the potential to deflect evil. Bibliography Barley, Nigel. The Art of Benin. The British Museum Press: London, 2010. Dark, Phillip. An Illustrated Catalogue of Benin Art. G.K. Hall & co: Boston, 1982. Illus. 31 Ezra, Kate. Royal Art of Benin: The Perls Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York, 1992. LaGamma, Alisa. Heroic Africans: Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York, 2012. Plankensteiner, Barbara (ed.). Benin Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria. The Art Institute of Chicago: Chicago, 2007. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/312290

Title: Head of an Oba Date: 19th century Geography: Nigeria, Court of Benin Culture: Edo peoples Medium: Brass, iron Dimensions: H. 13 1/4 × W. 10 3/4 × D. 11 1/8 in. (33.7 × 27.3 × 28.3 cm) Classification: Metal-Sculpture Credit Line: Bequest of Alice K. Bache, 1977 Accession Number: 1977.187.37 The leaders of the kingdom of Benin in present-day Nigeria trace their origins to a ruling dynasty that began in the fourteenth century. The title of "oba," or king, is passed on to the firstborn son of each successive king of Benin at the time of his death. The first obligation of each new king during this transfer of rule is to commemorate his father with a portrait cast in bronze and placed on an altar at the palace. The altar constitutes an important site of palace ritual and is understood to be a means of incorporating the ongoing influence of past kings in the affairs of their descendents. In honoring the royal ancestors, the cast-brass heads refer to the special role of the head in directing not only the body but also a person's success in life. Taken further, the welfare of the entire kingdom depends upon the king's head, which is itself the object of worship. The placement of brass heads on the ancestral altar is a vivid reminder of the oba's role in successfully guiding the kingdom throughout his reign. The overall cylindrical shape, extended beaded collar covering the chin, addition of bead clusters to the crown, and wide flange at the base of this brass head identify it as belonging to a later period—probably late eighteenth century—of Benin brass casting. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/310283

Benin Ivory Figure Female Figure Nigeria, Kingdom of Benin Edo peoples 18th century Ivory, metal Accession # 1978.412.302 Ivory is associated with the majesty of the elephant and the wealth derived from trade in elephant tusks. Consquently, it was used only for objects made for the king and others in positions of power. Benin ivory sculptures were carved by members of a hereditary guild who transmitted time-honored motifs and patterns from one generation to the next. This figure represents a female attendant to the queen mother. The queen mother cared for young women who served in this capacity at her court until they reached marriageable age. At that time, her son, the oba, could marry them or give them to important chiefs to cement political alliances. Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.

Plaque: Two Portuguese Merchants Date: 16th–17th century Geography: Nigeria, Court of Benin Culture: Edo peoples Medium: Brass Dimensions: H. 20 1/2 in. (52.1 cm) Classification: Metal-Sculpture Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1991 Accession Number: 1991.17.18 Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/5000...

Benin Ivory Figure Female Figure Nigeria, Kingdom of Benin Edo peoples 18th century Ivory, metal Accession # 1978.412.302 Ivory is associated with the majesty of the elephant and the wealth derived from trade in elephant tusks. Consquently, it was used only for objects made for the king and others in positions of power. Benin ivory sculptures were carved by members of a hereditary guild who transmitted time-honored motifs and patterns from one generation to the next. This figure represents a female attendant to the queen mother. The queen mother cared for young women who served in this capacity at her court until they reached marriageable age. At that time, her son, the oba, could marry them or give them to important chiefs to cement political alliances. Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.