Register 1954: "Composite, mirror in carved wood frame with sliding cover of carved wood."~Plankensteiner 2007: The custom of placing an altarpiece called aseberia in a queen mother's shrine seems to have begun no earlier than the late 17th century. On this aseberia, the platform is relatively simple and it is undecorated along the corners and upper edges, style elements considered to be characteristics of the early 18th century. The six figures and two leopards that attend the queen mother are arranged symmetrically on the plain upper surface, on either side of the wide opening in the centre. Her figure stands at the back of the platform, with her left hand holding a knobbed staff with spiral decoration on the shaft. On either side, one of the queen mother's female attendants holds a mirror charm high above the group. Historically the Edo have conceptualized reflective surfaces as windows in the world of spirits and deities, just as other cultures have been awed by surface of crystal balls (Omoisigho Osaigeide, personal communication, April 23rd, 1982; Ogiemwonyi Ugiagbe, personal communication, May 1982; Bradbury [1957-1961]: BS 478). Mirrors in Benin were hidden inside wooden cases. The cover was more than mere protection from breakage; it closed the cosmic window, shielding the owner from any beings that might emerge undetected from the reflection (see Egharevba 1968a: 31). At public ceremonies, mirror charms have been used for generations to protect the Oba and Iyoba, by deflecting hostile spiritual energies that are sent to attack them. The hidden mirror catches whatever illl fortune is intended and reflects it back towards the being that sent it (Blackmun 1984: 307-311). The other figures on the aseberia represent male officials who served the lyoba. She appointed her own Ewua officials, as well as her warrior bodyguards. The leopards are symbols of her son's kingly powers, as are the abstracted elephant heads with the trunk ending in a human hand. These appear twice in relief, on the front of the platform. The other images in relief represent the heads or skulls of animals that have been sacrificed to revitalize the lyoba's spirit: cattle, antelope, leopards (four skulls), and two mudfish.
Exhibitions Loans and Displays - Current and Pastexhibition history Exhibited: 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