Ẹkan are beads made from the semi-precious agate stone. They look similar to the beads known as 

, which are used to make jewellery. However, Ẹkan are more greyish in colour and are of less value than Ivie. The Ọba in the past would control both Ivie and Ekan and one could only wear them if the Ọba gave the right to do so.

In English, the term bead is used to describe both Ẹkan and Ivie. These beads may have once been part of necklaces, crowns or other regalia worn and used by the Ọba, his wives, and other high-ranking dignitaries. It is not known whether such beads were once part of other objects and were separated after being looted in 1897, or whether they were single beads at the time and part of the loot. The red colour of these beads symbolises ‘power, blood and danger’ (Curnow in Plankensteiner 2007, p.380

) and is innately tied with the Ọba. These beads also speak to the wide-ranging trade networks that Benin Kingdom has been part of over time. Agate and jasper were imports from northern Africa via trans-Saharan networks, whereas it is thought that the Portuguese imported coral from the Mediterranean from the fifteenth century onwards.

Ẹkan

Beads such as these may have once been part of necklaces, crowns or other regalia worn and used by the Ọba, his wives, and other high-ranking dignitaries. Two kinds of beads, known as Ivie and Ekan in Edo, have been identified by the Digital Benin team.

It is not known whether such beads were separated from other objects after being in 1897, or whether they were single beads at the time and part of the loot. The red colour of these beads symbolises ‘power, blood and danger’ (Curnow in Plankensteiner 2007, p.380

) and is innately tied to the Ọba. These beads also speak to the wide-ranging trade networks that Benin Kingdom has been part of over time. Agate and jasper were imported from northern Africa via trans-Saharan networks, and it is thought that the Portuguese imported coral from the Mediterranean from the fifteenth century onwards.

Bead

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)

Oldman, Dorothy K. 

Collector

Dealer

Wikidata Link

Oldman, William Ockelford 

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juju 

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dwarf

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tribe

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non-western

western-art

western museum

tribal

hofzwerg

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British Colonial Military Campaign on Benin, February 1897

expedition

exotic

negro

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Black Africa

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primitive

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medicine man

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