Catalogue card notes: "Carved wooden hand shrine. A large heavy stool-shaped piece of wood (somewhat rotted away), with a series of carvings around the outside depicting Bini warriors holding spears and shields on either side of a shrine (?). It has a sort of wooden handle(?) protruding from the top."
Ikengobo. A carved wooden cylindrical hand shrine decorated with three Bini warriors holding spears and shields and a pair of arching vertical carvings potentially depicting a shrine, with two offerings below. There is a band of interlaced curvilinear designs around the the base. A vertical spike carved from the solid projects upwards from the top. There is significant historic termite damage to top, sides and base with areas missing. A large cracks extend the length of object near the spike.
Ikengobo. A carved wooden cylindrical hand shrine decorated with three Bini warriors holding spears and shields and a pair of arching vertical carvings potentially depicting a shrine, with two offerings below. There is a band of interlaced curvilinear designs around the the base. A vertical spike carved from the solid projects upwards from the top.
There is another object on the database, with this IDNO, a horse bit from Africa, noted as possibly Thomas Collection. As the Accession Register lists the current object, the hand shrine, not a bit, I have added record 2 to the IDNO of the horse bit.
This is the hand shrine that Thomas describes on p.91 of the N. W. Thomas Catalogue 1 (MAA Doc.339).
This corresponds to Thomas’s object No. 63 from Catalogue 1, collected in Benin City. From the packing note (Object packing list – University of Cambridge Library MSS.Haddon.10017) (and List of Objects purchased by the Museum – British Museum, Department of Prehistory and Europe, Correspondence Files [no number]), he seems to have paid just 3d for it in 1909.
MAA Doc.339 is a photograph and phonograph list and does not have a p.91. I believe Basu is referring to Doc.413 in which p.91 has a list of hand shrines, No.1 listed as "Hand". This is thought to be Z 12071, which has an attached label with Thomas number 63 and displays a design which could be interpreted as a hand. It is also from Benin City.
I do not believe there is any connection with this shrine
Catalogue card reads in blue biro: "Z 25246 | AFRICA | S. NIGERIA / BENIN / Carved wooden hand shrine (IKENGOBO). A large heavy stool-shaped piece of wood (somewhat rotted away) with a series of carvings around the outside depicting 3 Bini warriors holding spears + shields on either side of a shrine (?) It has a sort of wooden handle (?) protruding from the top."
Red circular sticker on bottom right corner of card.