Possibly medicine flask.~Plankensteiner 2007: These flasks, probably 19th-century medicine containers, are extremely curious. Female imagery – aside from the Iyoba and her pages – is extremely rare in Benin court art (see Curnow 1997c). Neither wears the extensive jewelry one might expect of royal wives, and their markings are unusual. The smaller flask shows odd chin protrusions as well as three scars over each eye, rather than the usual four for women (see Ben-Amos 1980; 18, 81). The larger similarly bears three, with ‘catwhiskers’ at the corner of her lips, an uncommon trait found on some older bronzes. Both show torso tattoos, one through linear convention, the other through broad blades and the cuts which introduced colour (see Nevadomsky and Aisien 1995). As both portray pregnant women, it is likely the medicine was meant to either induce fertility or ensure prenatal health. In the competitive world of the royal harem (erie), childbirth is as vital as it is elsewhere. Without children, a woman’s household position is jeopardized, as is her old age and ancestorhood. When the child could be a future Oba, ambition is further fuelled. The smaller piece has a dense, swollen appearance unlike most Benin sculpture, but well-suited to a fertility/maternity function; its fallen breasts suggest previous childbirth. The kneeling pose is rare in art, though it is customary for both Edo female greeting and imploring. The larger work’s peculiar ribbon-like arms and fingers have no parallel, nor does the emergence of feet directly from the beaded hips. Relatively few female flasks exist. One, in the Pitt Rivers collection, wore an actual coral necklace and shows a skirted pregnant woman with a short staff, arrow points edging her mouth. The broken hairstyle of the British Museum vessel may have resembled this work’s high coiffure. A Leipzig piece may be related. Though it only shows a head, relief women on its surface suggests a feminine identification. Strung on plaited fibres, its rings are placed like those of both the Pitt Rivers pieces. This alignment suggests they, too were corded and worn by a ritual specialist or a pregnant woman herself.
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