16th Century Benin plaque detail, Nigeria

This head was part of a brass snake on the palace roof – it was fixed to the roof with its body zigzagging down and its head at the bottom. Fifteen of these snake heads survive. We are not sure if the snakes were meant to be protective pythons or threatening puff adders.




(My own observation: Note the Olokun symbol on the center of the snake's head)

This photograph was taken at the palace, during the expedition made by the British in 1897. In the background you can see the palace roof with a snake made of brass slithering down it.

The people of Benin used many musical instruments. This one, in the shape of an Oro bird, is called an idiophone or clapper. It was used during parades to celebrate the Benin kingdom’s victories in battle. To play it, a brass rod is used to hit the bird’s beak.

Edo culture, Benin Kingdom, Nigeria. Hip Pendant Depicting Portuguese Face, 1500s-1800s. Brass. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1991, (1991.162.9). Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Benin Bronze Head - DG.027 (LSO)
Origin: Nigeria
Circa: 1800 AD to 1900 AD
Dimensions: 9.5" (24.1cm) high
Collection: African Art
Style: Benin
Medium: bronze
Condition: Very Fine

Benin Bronze Fish - DG.029
Origin: Nigeria
Circa: 16 th Century AD to 18 th Century AD
Dimensions: 5.5" (14.0cm) high x 14.5" (36.8cm) depth
Collection: African Art
Style: Benin/Ife
Medium: bronze
Condition: Extra Fine

Origin: Nigeria
Circa: 17 th Century AD
Dimensions: 10.5" (26.7cm) high x 3" (7.6cm) wide x 7.5" (19.1cm) depth
Collection: African Art
Style: Benin
Medium: Brass
Condition: Fine

Relief Plaque with Horseman

Benin, Nigeria
17th century
Bronze
62 x 44 cm


The depiction of equestrian figures on plaques is very rare in Benin. We know of only one comparable plaque, located in Vienna's Museum of Ethnology. Both works depict horsemen in three-quarter profile and feature a three-dimensional rendering of the horsemen's crown and his horse's head. The fact that the headdress extends past the plaque's borders, detached from and towering above the rest of the work, creates an especially dynamic effect.

Figure Caption: While 16th century Oba Esigie debated whether to follow a retreating enemy army across the Niger River, a prophetic bird flew through his camp and advised him to turn back. His resolve strengthened. He ordered it shot, and defied its prediction by defeating his enemy. Like many kings, he marked this incident by a new ceremony, whereby chiefs strike brass birds on the beaks. Photo: Penn Museum.

Benin Bronze Mask Fragment - DB.017 (LSO)
Origin: Nigeria
Circa: 16 th Century AD to 18 th Century AD
Dimensions: 10" (25.4cm) high
Collection: African Art
Style: Benin
Medium: bronze
Condition: Very Fine

Benin Bronze Hip Ornament in the Form of a Leopard's Head - PF.4483
Origin: Southcentral Nigeria
Circa: 16 th Century AD to 18 th Century AD
Dimensions: 6.75" (17.1cm) high x 4" (10.2cm) wide
Collection: African
Style: Benin
Medium: Bronze

Benin Bronze Head - CK.0065
Origin: Nigeria
Circa: 16 th Century AD to 17 th Century AD
Dimensions: 9.25" (23.5cm) high x 6" (15.2cm) wide
Collection: African
Style: Benin
Medium: Bronze

Benin Bronze Altar Vessel - SK.064
Origin: Nigeria
Circa: 19 th Century AD
Dimensions: 11.25 " (28.6cm) high x 3" (7.6cm) wide
Collection: African Art
Style: Benin
Medium: Bronze

Benin Bronze Mask of an Oba - LK.166
Origin: Benin Kingdom
Circa: 18 th Century AD to 19 th Century AD
Dimensions: 9.8" (24.9cm) high x 6." (15.2cm) wide
Collection: African Art
Style: Benin
Medium: Bronze


Location: Great Britain

Benin Bronze Mask of a Leopard with Bells - LK.167
Origin: Benin Kingdom
Circa: 18 th Century AD to 19 th Century AD
Dimensions: 14.1" (35.8cm) high x 7.8" (19.8cm) wide
Collection: African Art
Style: Benin
Medium: Bronze


Location: Great Britain

Benin Bronze Mother Queen - CK.0111
Origin: Southcentral Nigeria
Circa: 18 th Century AD to 19 th Century AD

Collection: African Art
Style: Benin
Medium: Bronze


Location: United States

Benin Style Bronze Sculpture of a Dwarf - CK.0265

Benin Ivory Sculpture of a Court Official with a Cross Pendant - CK.0591
Origin: Central Nigeria
Circa: 19 th Century AD to 20 th Century AD
Dimensions: 8.75" (22.2cm) high x 2.5" (6.4cm) wide
Collection: African
Style: Benin
Medium: Ivory


Location: United States


Recognizable from his distinctive costume, this figure is one of a type that is frequently encountered on ivory tusks, bronze plaques, and in free-standing sculpture such as the present example. He typically wears a rounded hat, a necklace featuring a cross- shaped pendant, bears "cat whisker" scarification on his cheeks, and carries a staff in his right hand and an L-shaped hammer used in metalworking in his left hand. Although there are multiple competing interpretations among scholars as to the meaning or identity of such figures, they are generally thought to represent a court official known as an Ewua whose official duties include waking the Oba each morning and performing a set of rituals meant to recall the origins of the dynasty, effectively legitimizing the royal family's authority.   - (CK.0591)

Benin Figure Carved from an Ivory Tusk - LK.346
Origin: Benin
Circa: 18 th Century AD to 19 th Century AD
Dimensions: 8.66" (22.0cm) high x 1.18" (3.0cm) wide
Collection: African Art
Medium: Ivory


Location: Great Britain

Benin Bronze Sculpture of a Hornblower - CK.0715
Origin: Southcentral Nigeria
Circa: 16 th Century AD to 18 th Century AD
Dimensions: 9" (22.9cm) high x 5" (12.7cm) wide
Collection: African Art
Style: Benin
Medium: Bronze


Location: United States

Benin Bronze Figure - CK.0734
Origin: Southcentral Nigeria
Circa: 18 th Century AD to 19 th Century AD
Dimensions: 14.25" (36.2cm) high x 5.25" (13.3cm) wide
Collection: African Art
Style: Benin
Medium: Bronze


Location: United States

[img]http://www.barakatmuseum.com/Auction/ItemImgs/4488[/img]

Benin Brass Head Depicting an Osun - PF.4488
Origin: Southcentral Nigeria
Circa: 1700 AD to 1897 AD
Dimensions: 12" (30.5cm) high
Collection: African
Style: Benin
Medium: Brass


This splendid sculpture portrays a man with the proud bearing of a chief or king. Through his elaborate head and face decoration lends a flowing abstract line of symbolism and mysticism, there is, however, a strong undercurrent of realism in this piece. The symbolism of the creatures represented reefers to the mystical and magical aspects of kingship so emphasized by the eighteenth-century Obas. The birds and snakes are attributes of Osun, the power inherent in leaves and herbs found in the forest. The birds are similar to those depicted on the top of the palace and have the same protective powers. Snakes are symbolic of the warriors of Osun. Their representation issuing from nostrils refers to the belief that those who are magically powerful vomit out snakes when setting out to destroy their enemies. The celts, or "thunder-stones" are associated with Ogiuwu, bringer of death, who whirls them on his enemies.

[img]http://www.barakatmuseum.com/Auction/ItemImgs/4893[/img]

Benin Bronze Cup - PF.4893
Origin: Southcentral Nigeria
Circa: 18 th Century AD to 19 th Century AD
Dimensions: 4.75" (12.1cm) high x 4.875" (12.4cm) wide
Collection: African
Style: Benin
Medium: Bronze

[img]http://www.barakatmuseum.com/Auction/ItemImgs/4894[/img]

Benin Bronze Cup - PF.4894
Origin: Southcentral Nigeria
Circa: 18 th Century AD to 19 th Century AD
Dimensions: 3" (7.6cm) high x 4.5" (11.4cm) wide
Collection: African
Style: Benin
Medium: Bronze

Location: United States

This charming brass cup was used by a Osun specialist during Ewawa divination rituals. Osun is a spiritual power inherent in leaves and herbs. The diviner/herbalist knows where to find these plants and the formula for brewing them into magical and medicinal preparations. For divination, however, small brass images of humans, animals, cowries, and other objects are shaken in the cup and thrown down upon a drum. The resulting configuration is interpreted by the diviner related to the client's problem or request. The delightful face on the cup is probably a representation of the deity Esu who is the mediator between diviner and the supernatural world. Thick lines connecting the center extension and the lower rim divide the cup into four sections. Within two of them are shapes which resemble an abstract conception of the male sex organs. If the circle symbolizes woman, then both forces of male and female energy are brought into play during the act of divination. What is absolutely certain is the power and beauty this cup possesses, which transcends the physical world into the world of myth and magic. - (PF.4894)

Benin Brass Sculpture of a Leopard - PF.6194 (LSO)
Origin: Nigeria
Circa: 16 th Century AD to 18 th Century AD
Dimensions: 6.75" (17.1cm) high x 10.5" (26.7cm) depth
Collection: African
Style: Benin
Medium: Brass


Location: Great Britain

Benin Ivory Figure of a Young Dignitary - DE.078
Origin: Nigeria
Circa: 1750 th Century AD to 19 th Century AD
Dimensions: 10.25" (26.0cm) high

Benin Bronze Box in the Form of a Fish - AMD.229
Origin: Benin- Nigeria
Circa: 1600 AD to 1850 AD
Dimensions: 3.9" (9.9cm) high x 7.8" (19.8cm) wide
Collection: African Art
Style: Benin
Medium: Bronze


Location: Great Britain

Benin Bronze Head of an Oba - DAC.010
Origin: Nigeria
Circa: 17 th Century AD to 18 th Century AD
Dimensions: 9" (22.9cm) high
Collection: African Art
Style: Benin
Medium: Bronze

Benin Ivory Leopard Head - AM.142 (LSO)
Origin: South-Central Nigeria
Circa: 1600 AD to 1800 AD
Dimensions: 7.75" (19.7cm) high x 4.5" (11.4cm) wide
Collection: African
Style: Benin
Medium: Ivory

Benin Bronze Rooster - LSO.575
Origin: Nigeria
Circa: 17 th Century AD to 18 th Century AD
Dimensions: 20" (50.8cm) high
Collection: African Art
Style: Benin
Medium: Bronze

Benin Oba Head - LSO.568
Origin: Nigeria
Circa: 16 th Century AD to 17 th Century AD
Dimensions: 9" (22.9cm) high
Collection: African Art
Style: Benin
Medium: Bronze




^^^^

The site I got this from claims that this is a depiction of an Oba's head, but that is definitely incorrect. This is a trophy head of a defeated ruler from another kingdom.