Commemorative head of a king

Object Details

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

Benin kingdom court style

Edo artist

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

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

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

Metadata Usage (Object Detail Text)

CC0