Oko are side-blown horns and Akohẹn are flutes, however since the instruments look very similar they are grouped together here. Oko are frequently used by priests to evoke spirits and by traditional doctors to drive away witches when attending to a patient that may have been afflicted by a witch. Oko can also serve as an object of commemoration; when a new Ọba sends an ivory Oko to be kept at the Olokun Shrine in Ughoton, it is to commemorate his accession to the throne. Akohen, on the other hand, is a flute. Egharevba (1968:40

) dates the Akohen to the era of Ọba Eresoyen.

Side-blown wind instruments, sometimes referred to as trumpets, horns or flutes in English, were used in Edo ritual to ‘call the ancestors’. Although typically carved from ivory, there are also a number which are cast in bronze – whether these were also usable for sound-making purposes is not clear. Trumpets are depicted on relief plaques, providing an insight into how they were worn as part of ceremonial attire. Furthermore, there are also some horn-blower or flute-player figures depicting court musicians playing these objects.

Akohẹn/Oko

Horn or Flute

United States of America

Website

Online Catalogue

Brooklyn Museum

Internal Data (eng)

Wikidata Link

Riese, Beatrice

Collector

Donor

John Osazeme Igbineweka

Wood Carving: Significant Motifs and the Cowries

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Digital Benin linked field	Institution field	Value
object id	ObjectID	158154
designation, object type	Title	Side-Blown Horn with Figurative Base (Oko)
description	Description	Ivory tusk (a) carved in high relief, encased at the open end in a cast copper alloy collar (b). There is a rectangular recess in the middle of the convex side of the tusk which has a circular opening at one end. The cast-metal component has high relief, undercut animals on the surface. There are numerous low raised ridges in the metal that connects animals to the borders. The metal is covered in red clay.
material	Medium	Ivory, copper alloy
dimensions	Dimensions	15 x 3 1/2 x 7in. (38.1 x 8.9 x 17.8cm) (with components joined): 16 5/16 × 6 11/16 in. (41.5 × 17 cm)
inscriptions	Inscriptions
date made	Alpha Sort 2	18th or 19th century
date made	Begin Date	1701
production place	Geography	Place made: Benin City, Royal Court of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria, Africa
prior source	Credit Line	Gift of Beatrice Riese
provenance	Provenance	Prior to 1996, provenance not yet documented; by 1996, acquired by Beatrice Riese, New York; 1996, gift of Beatrice Riese to the Brooklyn Museum.
ethnic attribution	Alpha Sort	Edo
ethnic attribution	Maker	Edo
exhibition history	Exhibition History	Brooklyn Museum, "Double Take: African Innovations," Long-term Installation, October 29, 2014 - March 19, 2017. Brooklyn Museum, "African Innovations," Long-term Installation, August 12, 2011 - September 28, 2014. Brooklyn Museum, “Arts of Africa,” Long-term Installation, May 24, 2001 - June 26, 2011.
bibliography	Published References
	Object Number	1996.171a-b
	Sort Number	1996 171a b

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