Aken’ni Elao (altar tusks) are usually ivory tusks carved with scenes of ceremonies or spiritual activities. These were placed at the ancestral shrines of the Ọba and were primarily made as a historical record for documenting events. For the Edo people, the white colour of ivory represents the purity of spirituality. The Ọba owns one tusk from every elephant killed by right and reserves the right to buy the other one. Aken’ni Elao are placed in the opening in commemorative heads at the ancestral altar.

) speculated that the Igbesanmwan began carving tusks specifically for altars around 1750 during the reign of Ọba Akengbuda. According to reports by members of the British expedition in 1897, carved ivory tusks were found on altars in Ọba Palace. Owing to the destructive nature of the expedition, and because so little was recorded, it has been difficult for scholars to reconstruct the exact ways tusks were used or their number (Blackmun, 1983, p.60

). However, a rare image taken by Cyril Punch in 1892 shows an altar with tusks and other objects arranged on top. It is believed that tusks – carved and plain – were mounted on bronze commemorative heads and placed on royal altars.

This category includes whole tusks as well as fragments.

Aken'ni Elao

Altar Tusk

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Website

Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust

Internal Data (eng)

Loder, E. 

Otter, G. W. 

Donor

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Black Africa

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Digital Benin linked field	Institution field	Value
object id	Acc/ID Number	WA501245
designation	Object Name	Tusk
description	Description	The tusk is covered all over in carving mostly representing human figures in bas relief. There is a depiction of a king at top in coral bead regalia. Leopards, mud fish and Portuguese traders are also depicted.
description	Description/Acquisition Overview	Tusk, Nineteenth Century. The tusk is covered all over in carving mostly representing human figures in bas relief. There is a depiction of a king at top in coral bead regalia. Leopards, mud fish and Portuguese traders are also depicted. All formally of the collection of Sir Henry Loder, Bart [Baronet] Selehurst.
material	Materials	animal ivory
dimensions	Measurements	whole: 1920 x 140 mm
object type	Record Type	Core
date made	Date Created	19th Century
production place	Place Created	Nigeria, West Africa, Africa
prior source	Credit Line	Donated by Mr G W Otter in 1956
prior source	Donor	G.W Otter Esq, Southwood, Broadstone, Dorset.
provenance	Collector	LODER E. SIR
provenance	Object (hi)story
date collected	Date Collected
place collected	Place Collected
ethnic attribution	Cultural Grp	Edo; Bini
department and institution	Department	World Art
accession date	Acquistion date	24th of April 1957
notes	New research info 2022
exhibition history	Ext Exhib History	People, Places Profits (Museum trail September 2007-April 2008)
legal status	Legal Status	Permanent Collection
	Creator	Unrecorded
	Documentation Issues
	History file contents
	Loan Allowed?
	Other no.	R5000/1

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