"Iyoba Idia's visage is the most widely known face of an African royal woman after the Egyptian Queen, Nefertiti." (Nkiru Nzegwu, 2005)
Queen Idia's face conveys the considerable determination and allure that has inspired centuries of respect for her role as an astute leader of the Benin kingdom. This icon was one of four created in her honor by her son, Oba Esigie, who led the kingdom to the height of its prosperity in the sixteenth century. All four were worn each year in a ceremony by a succession of Obas up until 1897, when a British military force confiscated them from the Oba's bedroom in the palace and brought them back to Europe.
Taken from a box in the Oba�s bedroom in the royal palace of Benin City by Dr. Robert Allman, Principal Medical Officer for the British Punitive Expedition Feb. 16, 1897; [Sotheby's, London, Important African Sculpture, South American & Oceanic Art, Monday, June 27, 1960, lot no. 120, reproduced]; purchased at auction by K.J. Hewett (1919-1994), London, England; John Wise (1902-1981), New York, New York; sold to Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, Dec. 19, 1960
Exhibition Historyexhibition history Kansas City, Missouri, The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum, The Imagination of PrimitiveMan, 1962.
Cleveland, Ohio, The Cleveland Museum of Art, African TribalImages: The Katherine White Reswick Collection, July 10 - Sept. 1, 1968 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Oct. 10 - Dec. 1, 1968).
Los Angeles, California, African Art In Motion: Icon and Act, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 1974 (Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, Apr. 21 - Aug. 30, 1974).
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, African Panoplies: Art for Rulers, Traders, Hunters, and Priests, Apr. 21- Aug. 14, 1988.
Chicago, Illinois, Art Institute of Chicago, Benin - Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria, July 8 - Sept. 21, 2008.
Published Referencesbibliography Important African Sculpture, South American, Haida and Oceanic Art, June 27, 1960, Sotheby's (London, 1960): p. 32, lot no. 120, reproduced frontispiece (color) and folding plate, n.p.
Fagg, William. African TribalImages: The Katherine White Collection. Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968; p. 141.
Mathes, Charles. Treasures of American Museums, Mallard Press, 1991; p. 3.
Selected Works, Seattle, Washington: Seattle Art Museum, 1991; p. 35
Kaplan, Flora Edouwaye S. "Images of the Queen Mother in Benin Court Art." African Arts vol. 26, no. 3 (July 1993): pp. 54-63, 86-88, reproduced p. 56, fig. 1.
Museum for Volkerkunde Wien, Vienna, Austria, Benin � Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria, Snoeck Publishers, 2007; p. 142, reproduced fig. 3