Altarpiece of cast brass/bronze with a group of standing court figures including the Iyoba, the Queen Mother, in procession around an open rectangular base: West Africa, Nigeria, Edo State, Benin, 17th - 18th century
WEST AFRICA. SOUTHERN NIGERIA. BENIN. BRONZES. SHRINE. Bronze, low rectangular open pedestal, on which stand seven human and two leopard figures, all in the round; three of the human figures are repeated on opposite sides; one holds a ceremonial staff and hatchet, another wears a high beaded head-dress, and carries in his hands a shield and javelins, and a third (a woman) holds in the extended right hand a platter-like object; Obtd. after capture of Benin 1897. Wider World Gallery Label Text, 2001: Altar Piece. Nigeria. Benin. Seventeenth or eighteenth century. Cast brass group representing the mother of an oba (rear centre) being led in procession by priestesses, a male bodyguard, messengers, and two leopards. The base shows sacrificial animals. From an altar dedicated to the oba's mother.
Artistic Legacies, 2011-07-29 - present, National Museums Scotland, National Museum of Scotland || Benin - Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria, 2007-05-08 - 2008-09-21, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Museum Für Völkerkunde || Art UK Sculpture (online aggregator ArtUK)