Catalogue Entrydescription This magnificent ivory mask was carved in the 16th century by an artist from the igbesanmwan guild working at the royal court of Benin in present-day Nigeria. Originally worn at the hip as part of the king’s regalia, it is one of five closely related masks, all of which were reportedly kept inside a wooden chest in the king’s bedchamber. With the other examples in the British Museum, London; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Linden-Museum, Stuttgart; and the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, the mask is the only one among the five to remain in private hands.
All five masks are variations of the image of Idia, the mother of Oba (King) Esigie (r. 1504–50), who, according to legend, secured her son’s ascension to the throne through her prescience and magical powers. In gratitude, Esigie built a palace in Uselu and granted his mother the newly created political office of Iyoba (Queen Mother), a title bestowed on the king’s birth mother that still exists. When Esigie’s reign was challenged by the northern Igala people, Idia joined her son’s campaign and became known in oral tradition as ‘the woman who went to war’. After Idia’s death, a memorial shrine was installed inside the royal palace. To this day, her name is synonymous with intelligence, virtue, and bravery.
African elephant ivory (loxodonta Africana) was a highly prized material in ancient Benin, and the elephant was regarded as an alter ego of the Oba. Two vertical engraved bars above the inner corners of the eyes— representing scarification marks (ikao) and formerly holding iron straps, a material associated with war and magic—allude to Idia’s leadership qualities and attest to the prized potency of this object. Idia is shown wearing an interlace crown and collar incorporating coral beads, her head surmounted by a diadem featuring a row of perched birds with outstretched wings. The bird can be identified as the ibis, in Benin known as ahianmwen-oro (bird of prophecy) or odibosa (messenger of god), and refers to Idia’s capacity to alter destiny. As the legend goes, prior to battle against the Idah Kingdom, an ibis bird was seen flying over the Benin army, shrieking and flapping its wings. When royal diviners interpreted this as an omen of military disaster and urged retreat, the resolute Idia ordered the bird to be killed. Emboldened by his mother’s defiant decisiveness, Esigie then led his army to a great victory.
Oba Esigie’s reign of roughly fifty years is remembered as a time of remarkable political stability and prosperity. It saw the establishment of trade relations with a number of foreign countries, notably Portugal: the source of much of the copper used for the creation of artworks in the Benin royal palace (the famous ‘Benin bronzes’), as well as of mercenaries who served in the Oba’s army. The magnitude of Benin’s territorial expansion and imperial power during this time was equalled by flourishing of arts in the kingdom, culminating in the ‘golden age’ of Benin sculpture. This mask is an eloquent witness of this era.
HS
Presumably Oba Esigie, Kingdom of Benin, Nigeria;
by descent through the royal family of Benin;
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry Lionel Gallwey, following the Benin Punitive Expeditionof 1897;
Thence by family descent; Private purchase, 2015
Imperial Institute, London, Traditional Art from the Colonies, 1951 - 1951.
Berkeley Galleries, London, Ancient Benin, 01/12/1947 - 31/01/1948.
William Fagg (Foreword), Ancient Benin, Berkeley Galleries, 1947, p. 1.
Traditional Art from the Colonies, Imperial Institute, 1951, p. 25.
Treasures from the Al Thani Collection: Masterpieces from a Royal Collection, The Forbidden City Publishing House, 2018, pp. 304-307, also illus., cat. no. 124.