 (commemorative queen mother heads) were placed at the ancestral shrine of the Iy’Ọba. Similar to the Ọba’s altar, the Iy’ọba also had an altar erected on her behalf which consists of a commemorative head. The Uhunmwu elao ọghe Iy’ọba are particularly distinguished by the Upkẹ okhokho (chicken beak) hairstyle. Usually, a woman in Benin would only have three suborbital markings, however the Iy’Ọba is shown in many of these objects with four suborbital markings, which would usually indicate a man. This may indicate thato when an Iy’Ọba is crowned, she ascends to a status usually belonging only to men.

There are two main types of Uhunmwu elao ọghe Iy’Ọba, those with a quadrangular block-like base or pedestal, and those with flanges, as seen in other commemorative heads. It is believed that Ọba Esigie (c. 1504–50) introduced the role and title of Iy’Ọba to honour his mother, Queen Idia. It is thus thought that the earliest heads, those with quadrangular pedestals, may date to that period (Ben-Amos, 1995

Uhunmwu elao ọghe Iy’ọba 

Uhunmwu elao ọghe Iy’Ọba (commemorative queen mother heads) were placed at the ancestral shrine of the Iy’Ọba. Similar to the Ọba’s altar, the Iy’Ọba also had an altar erected on her behalf which consists of a commemorative head. The Uhunmwu elao ọghe Iy’Ọba are particularly distinguished by the Upkẹ okhokho (chicken beak) hairstyle. Usually, a woman in Benin would only have three suborbital markings, however the Iy’Ọba is shown in many of these objects with four suborbital markings, which would usually indicate a man. This may indicate thato when an Iy’Ọba is crowned, she ascends to a status usually belonging only to men.

There are two main types of Uhunmwu elao ọghe Iy’Ọba, those with a quadrangular block-like base or pedestal, and those with flanges, as seen in other commemorative heads. It is believed that Ọba Esigie (c. 1504–50) introduced the role and title of Iy’Ọba to honour his mother, Queen Idia. It is thus thought that the earliest heads, those with quadrangular pedestals, may date to that period (Ben-Amos, 1995

Commemorative Queen Mother Head

Austria

Website

Online Catalogue

Weltmuseum Wien

Internal Data (ger)

Haas, Georg

Patron

Wikidata Link

Webster, William Downing

Dealer

Donor

Suggestion: The word juju in itself is not harmful in as much as it refers to the belief system. It can be used in a harmful or derogatory way and is context dependent. Please assess the context of this word as a user of the platform.

 more about the background of this statement here.

juju 

Suggestion: Replace with, “a person of short stature,” “little person” or "someone with dwarfism". (See 

Read more about the background of this statement here.

dwarf

Suggestion: Replace with First Nations, First people, or particular community name. (See 

aboriginal

Suggestion: Replace with the name of the particular community and delete where it is used to reference an already identified group, e.g Igbo ~~tribe.~~

tribe

This word was redacted from the catalogue as a derogatory racialised word.

DB_redacted_word

Suggestion: Be as specific as possible in terms of country, population etc. (See 

non-western

western-art

western museum

tribal

hofzwerg

For more information on this term and its violent and inherently harmful context to indigenous communities, see 

British Colonial Military Campaign on Benin, February 1897

expedition

exotic

negro

Suggestion: Replace with the word Africa.

Black Africa

Warning: This word is used in a historic context of a title for a book, exhibition, institution name or book description etc. We recognise the potential for the material to cause physical and mental distress as well as evoke strong emotions. The material within the catalogue does not represent Digital Benin’s views. Digital Benin maintains a strong anti-colonial, anti-racist position and affirms its support for centring the humanity of historically marginalised and disenfranchised communities.

Read more about the background of this statement here

primitive

Suggestion: Replace with traditional healer, spiritual healer, or specific name that particular communities use to define this role. (See 

medicine man

Suggestion: Replace in cases where it used to describe human beings, with the term indigenous communities, first people or particular community name.