Object History Note / Acquisition Notedescription, provenance, notes During the British expeditionto Benin City (Edo) in 1897 objects made of brass, bronze, ivory, coral, and wood were looted by British soldiers from the royal palace, its storerooms, and compounds. Some of these objects were sold or exchanged in West Africa. However, many were brought to the UK where they were retained by soldiers of the expeditionand subsequently inherited by thier families; put up for auction; or donated, lent, or sold to museums. See Collection File: Af1897,-.498-563.
Plankensteiner 2007: These unique figures are among a group that have each been cast in solid bronze, upon a pointed rod that extends beyond the figure's leg and feet. A cylindrical protrusion at the top of the crown serves as the rod's extension upward. This protrusion's flat, disc-shaped finial does not resemble the tall oro that signifies descent from Ile Ife. Arching over the crown is an unusual element - a twisted band of flanged bronze that forms a vertical loop overhead. Two winglike attachments called ikekeze are attached to each figure's crown, a feature believed to have been added to Benin's crowns about 1818 (Fagg and Elisofon 1958; 65, fig. 167). Nevertheless, some figures that have the characteristics of this unusual group appear to have been cast earlier than this. Although the regalia of the British Museum and Dresden figures are nearly identical, they differ in style and in the implements that they hold. Each represents a subset of these 'loop' sculptures. Three fairly slender sculptures are portrayed with an eben sword (now broken in the British Museum example), whole the left hand is extended with the palm turned downwards, as though it is patting the air. The remaining seven figures share the characteristics of the example from Dresden - the crowned head, stiff beaded collar, body, and wrapper form a basically cylindrical outline. In most of these seven figures, the right hand holds the eben, while the left hand wields an empowering staff called isevbere igho. This staff is still used by an official accompanying the oba at Emobo, the rite that completes Igue. As the Oba's procession moves past the palace, he makes a repeated pushing motion with both hands extended, moving his palm outward and downward. Although he uses both hands, in Benin it is the left hand that is usually employed with otherworldly beings. Emobo is a calm but firm dismissal of spirits that are still hoping to receive additional offerings. If they do not accept the Oba's suggestion, the formidable isevhere igho enforces his request. Originally, these loop figures were each displayed on an ancestral altar that commemorated one of Benin's former rulers. Unlike Benin's thin-walled sculptures cast by the cire perdue method, each of these Emobo figures was heavy, solid bronze. The clay altar was penetrated by the pointed metal rod below the image. Once installed into the clay, they were not easily moved. Earlier researchers concluded that each flanged loop functioned as a handle, to remove the sculpture for cleaning (Dark 1960: 48, pls. 60-62). This is unlikely, a Edo craftsmen knew that twisted flanges were unsuitable for lifting a heavy piece of solid metals. It is more probable that the loop served to keep palace attendants from inadvertently touching the cylindrical protrusion in the crown. It is not forbidden to touch the representation of an oro on the crown of a bronze figure. In fact, the cylindrical rod on each loop figure was purposefully differentiated from an oro, perhaps to warn that it was more than an ordinary finial. This element served as an extension of the pointed rod below, which was thrust deep into the clay altar. Year after year, the altar and the living spirit of the former ruler that it represented were restored by repeated sacrifices. These figures apparently functioned as conduits for the blessing rising from the altar, and also as enforcers to prevent supernatural forces from snatching sustenance for themselves (see Blackmun 2004).
Exhibitions Loans and Displays - Current and Pastexhibition history Exhibited: 1970-1973, London, Museum of Mankind, Divine Kingship in Africa 2007 May-Sept, Vienna, Museum für Völkerkunde, Benin. Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria 2007-2008 Oct-Jan, Paris, Musée du quai Branly, Benin. Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria 2008 Feb-May, Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum, Benin. Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria