Metal base for ivory tusk in the form of a head. Tall cylinder, the bottom half a collar of simulated beads from shoulders to lower lips; headdress covered with netting design. Top is open to hold tusk.
Until 1897, Benin Kingdom; 1897, reportedly taken from the Royal Palace during the British military raid and occupation of Benin City by an unidentified British agent; between 1897 and 1912, provenance not yet documented; by November 1912, acquired by William O. Oldman, London; November 18, 1912, purchased from William O. Oldman by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology; 1939, transferred from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology to the Brooklyn Museum, by exchange.
Brooklyn Museum,"The Arts of Africa", Long-term installation, May 24, 2001 - June, 2011. This was taken off display from unnamed installation in December 1986, per catalogue card.
Ben-Amos, Paula and Arnold Rubin, eds. The Art of Power/The Power of Art: Studies in Benin Iconography. Los Angeles: Museum of Cultural History, UCLA, 1983, 78, fig. 59.The Museum Journal, University of Pennsylvania, vol. 3, no. 4 (Dec. 1912), p. 76, fig. 39.Dalton, O.M. and Charles Hercules Read. Antiquities from the city of Benin and from other parts of West Africa in the British Museum. London: British Museum, 1899, pl. IX, fig. 6. [possibly referring to British Museum Af1897,1217.2]