Emwiegbe describes ornaments worn on the body or attached to ceremonial regalia. Although Emwiegbe is used to collectively describe these objects in Edo, in English the terms charm and ornament are used.

Emwiegbe

Although ornament could be used to describe a range of different ornamental objects, it is used here in to describe hammered brass sheet ornaments which would be attached to ceremonial regalia of members of the royal court, such as the scorpion which is attached to the back of the red pangolin skin outfit worn by town chiefs. According to Chief Eghobamien (in Ben-Amos 1995, p.102

), ‘the brass scorpion worn … by chiefs on their is to indicate that the chief is as dangerous as a scorpion … in the olden days it was dangerous for a chief to be coming and going in town. So he used to equip himself with such a charm’. Thus, these ornaments were not only decorative but also served as protective charms for those who wore them. Although now found in collections as individual objects, these represent only part of the ceremonial regalia they would once have been part of. How they came to be separated, whether before or after 1897, is not known.

Ornament

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The British Museum’s archives are held in various locations across the institution. The items listed here aim to give an overview of the main locations where relevant archival and photographic material relating to objects from the Kingdom of Benin is housed. Key areas relevant for cultural objects from the Kingdom of Benin are: Corporate Archives; Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas archives; Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory archives; and the Anthropology Library and Research Centre.

Website

Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas 

Online Catalogue

Library & Archive

British Museum

Internal Data (eng)

Bouverie, B. P.

Donor

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