Ivin (carved coconut vessels) served as a medium for carvers who were part of the Emada (Omada, sing. / Emada, pl.) and practised inside the palace. Compared with Igbesanmwan, relatively little is known about this form of craftsmanship.

The style of carvings produced by the Emada differed from the more rigid, stylised and ceremonial/ritual carvings of the hereditary Igbesanmwan guild. Emada members learned to carve as part of their training to be palace pages, thus these carvings tend to be more individual and personalised, and were also sold as commercial items (Ezra, 1992, p.253-254

). In addition to wooden objects, the Emada carved intricate designs into the shells of coconuts. Although the origin of carving by Emada members is not known, the presence of objects clearly carved by them, such as these coconut shells which were part of the loot from Benin City in 1897, confirms that the Emada were carving during the nineteenth century (Ezra, 1992, p.254

Ivin may have been used for storage or other functions. Some are cut in half, forming a bowl and a lid (Hess, 1984, p.47

). Others have small openings and lugs carved into the sides to allow them to be suspended, possibly to be used as a kind of flask. In addition to serving as containers, carved coconut vessels were also placed on altars.

Ivin

Carved Coconut Vessel

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)

Wikidata Link

Fagg, William Buller 

Curator

Ethnographer

Collector

Anthropologist

Suggestion: The word juju in itself is not harmful in as much as it refers to the belief system. It can be used in a harmful or derogatory way and is context dependent. Please assess the context of this word as a user of the platform.

 more about the background of this statement here.

juju 

Suggestion: Replace with, “a person of short stature,” “little person” or "someone with dwarfism". (See 

Read more about the background of this statement here.

dwarf

Suggestion: Replace with First Nations, First people, or particular community name. (See 

aboriginal

Suggestion: Replace with the name of the particular community and delete where it is used to reference an already identified group, e.g Igbo ~~tribe.~~

tribe

This word was redacted from the catalogue as a derogatory racialised word.

DB_redacted_word

Suggestion: Be as specific as possible in terms of country, population etc. (See 

non-western

western-art

western museum

tribal

hofzwerg

For more information on this term and its violent and inherently harmful context to indigenous communities, see 

British Colonial Military Campaign on Benin, February 1897

expedition

exotic

negro

Suggestion: Replace with the word Africa.

Black Africa

Warning: This word is used in a historic context of a title for a book, exhibition, institution name or book description etc. We recognise the potential for the material to cause physical and mental distress as well as evoke strong emotions. The material within the catalogue does not represent Digital Benin’s views. Digital Benin maintains a strong anti-colonial, anti-racist position and affirms its support for centring the humanity of historically marginalised and disenfranchised communities.

Read more about the background of this statement here

primitive

Suggestion: Replace with traditional healer, spiritual healer, or specific name that particular communities use to define this role. (See 

medicine man

Suggestion: Replace in cases where it used to describe human beings, with the term indigenous communities, first people or particular community name.