Z 20335

ake; uxurhe-ake

Catalogue card 1 reads: 'Benin. Uxurhe-Ake. Ake is a Benin hero-deity, a great hunter who lived in the time of Oba Ewnare, and who is said to have turned into a river. Ake is worshipped particularly in the Isi District of Benin Division. The bow and arrow indicate the character of Ake as a hunter. The uxurhe is used in the same general way as those associated with Ovia and other cults.'

Catalogue card 2 reads: 'Stave (Ake) with elaborate puzzle-carving, terminating in human figure holding bow and arrow and cleaver Labelled 'Thomas Colln, S. Nigeria 1910-13, 2221.307''

Wooden staff with a rattle section and a human figure standing on top. The figure holds a bow and arrow in one hand and a knife in the other and has scarification marks on the forehead. The rattle section has geometric carving on the surface.

Wooden staff with a rattle section and a human figure standing on top. The figure holds a bow and arrow in one hand and a knife in the other and has scarification marks on the forehead. The rattle section has geometric carving on the surface.

Thomas label adhered to base reads: '2221 | 307 / Stave (Ake), highly carved. / Bini.'

Africa; West Africa; Nigeria; Edo State; Benin City [Bini]

Thomas, Northcote Whitridge [field collector]; Bevan, Anthony Ashley (Prof.) [monetary donor]

Edo

Two catalogue cards exist for this record - see description.

Record updated as part of the Museum Affordances project 2018-2020

Z 20335 Other: 307 (Thomas Collection Number - 1st Catalogue); 2221 [left side of Thomas Collection label]; 1910-13, 2221.307 [on Catalogue card]

During the collections-based phase of the Museum Affordances Project 2018, photographs of some of these rattle staffs were shared on the project Facebook group (www.facebook.com/groups/reentanglements/). In a comment on 01/10/2018, Adenike Cosgrove wrote: ' This looks to be an Edo ukhurhe rattle staff. You can read more about them here: www.imodara.com/.../nigeria-edo-ukhurhe-rattle.../'

See E 1910.118 and E 1913.3 records for further details about the Thomas Collection from Nigeria. [T.Cotterill]

These staffs (Z 20317 - Z 20342) appear to have been carved by the same hand, or in the same workshop and were collected by N.W. Thomas as a group. They are listed in Thomas' 1st catalogue (Doc.413) as entries 308-335, which are situated at the very back of the catalogue.