Object Details
- Benin kingdom court style
- Edo artist
- Label Text
- This head was once displayed on an altar honoring a particular oba, or king. It is not a specific portrait but an image of the status and regalia of kingship. Particular emphasis is given to the collar and crown made of imported coral beads.
- Description
- Cast copper alloy cylindrical head with a beaded neck to the lower lip of the mouth, netted bead cap with clusters of beads on the sides, cylindrical beads in front, strands of beads in front of theears, braids behind the ears and a single large bead on the forehead. The face has 3 keloids over each eye.
- Provenance
- Benin Punitive Expedition, 1897
- Mrs. E.C.Gaze and R.H.H. Barneby, 1965
- Sotheby and Co. auction, London, March 29, 1965
- Kamer Gallery, New York, 1967 to 1968
- Joseph H. Hirshhorn, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1968 to 1979
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1979 to 1985
- Exhibition History
- Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 4, 2017-ongoing
- Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue - From the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, November 7, 2014-January 24, 2016
- Pavilion, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., October 2, 2002
- The Ancient West African City of Benin, A.D. 1300-1897, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 28, 1987-June 1, 2004
- Published References
- Freyer, Bryna. 1987. Royal Benin Art in the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, no. 2.
- Kreamer, Christine Mullen and Adrienne L. Childs (eds). 2014. Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue from the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 45-46, 50, no. 44, pl. 1.
- Robbins, Warren M. and Nancy I. Nooter. 1989. African Art in American Collections. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, p. 215, no. 553.
- Credit Line
- Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn to the Smithsonian Institution in 1979
- 18th century
- Object number
- 85-19-16
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Sculpture
- Medium
- Copper alloy, iron
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 33 x 23.5 x 23.2 cm (13 x 9 1/4 x 9 1/8 in.)
- Geography
- Nigeria
- Exhibition
- Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts
- On View
- NMAfA, Second Level Gallery (2193)
- National Museum of African Art
- Topic
- Commemorative
- Ancestral
- Status
- Shrine/Altar
- male
- Record ID
- nmafa_85-19-16
- GUID (Original Record Link)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys7f7603091-3fbd-4569-926b-9d46e326ce9f
