The commemorative head, Uhunmwu Elao, of an Ọba placed at the king’s ancestral shrine could be made from bronze, wood or terra-cotta. The altar consists of a commemorative head that supported the carved ivory tusk. It could have a circular base or a rectangular-shaped base. However, they all have a unifying feature, which is the hole at the centre in which the tusk is placed.
Benin terra-cotta head called UHUNMLAHO-OBUE.
From Chief OSA IYEKEPOLO of Igun Street, Benin, through Mr. E. E. Essang, Technical Assistant, Benin Museum. 15.8.66. The vendor who was born about 1896, claimed that the objects had been in his family for eight generations, and that they belonged to the first OSA-NIGUN who followed ORANMIYAN from Ife to Benin. The OSA-NIGUN is the priest of the protective god and the goddes called ORHA and UNWEH respectively.