Plankensteiner 2007: This wooden bowl covered with ornamented brass sheet bands is a hollow dish with a removable cover to keep and serve food, or portions of cooked meat from animals sacrificed during palace rituals. It could also have been used for the presentation of gifts during court ceremonies. With its elaborated decoration it elevated the value of the gifts it contained. Benin court etiquette called for elaborate containers for things other than liquids, such as kola nuts, which were distributed in rituals and offered to guests to show hospitality.
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 2008 Jun-Sept, Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Benin. Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria