Commemorative head of an Oba (King), of cast brass/bronze, hollow with open crown, with beaded coral headress and deep neckband: West Africa, Nigeria, Edo State, Benin, 17th - 18th century
WEST AFRICA. NIGERIA. BENIN. BRONZES. HEAD PEDESTAL, bronze casting, three scars over each eye, pupils of iron; reticulated head-dress and rosettes of agate or coral, with strings of coral and plaited tresses hanging in front of and behind the ears, choker of coral beads covering chin. Obtained in the city of Benin, Southern Nigeria, February 1897. Midwestern State. Researcher comment, March 1974: Bini tribe Benin, Midwestern State. Wider World Gallery Label Text, 2001: Memorial Head. Nigeria. Benin. Seventeenth or eighteenth century. Cast brass head wearing coral beads. The hole in the top is designed for the insertion of a carved elephant's tusk. Brass heads and tusks stood on the ancestral altars of the oba, or king, within the palace courtyard at Benin.