The Iyeọkhọkhọ (hen figures) are used by chiefs and commoners on female altars. These differ from cast brass or bronze 

, which are only to be used on royal ancestral altars for the 

Iyeọkhọkhọ are carved in wood and usually depicted with a plump body and stylised motifs to represent the feathers. They are often painted, and on some occasions brass sheeting is overlaid on the surface. According to Seige (in Plankensteiner, 2007, p.412

), hens ‘symbolise maternal care and love, in particular they protect the chicks by spreading their wings over them’.

Iyeọkhọkhọ

The Iyeọkhọkhọ (hen figures) are used by chiefs and commoners on female altars. These differ from cast brass or bronze Ọkporhu, which are only to be used on royal ancestral altars for the Iy’Ọba.

Hen Figure

United States of America

Website

Online Catalogue

Brooklyn Museum

Internal Data (eng)

Alfred W. Jenkins Fund

British Colonial Military Campaign on Benin, February 1897

Member of the British Colonial Military Campaign on Benin, February 1897

Wikidata Link

Oldman, William Ockelford 

Dealer

Collector

More info

Pitt-Rivers (Lane Fox), Augustus Henry

Archaeologist

Soldier

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum), Philadelphia 

Museum

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juju 

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

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dwarf

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aboriginal

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tribe

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non-western

western-art

western museum

tribal

hofzwerg

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expedition

exotic

negro

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Black Africa

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primitive

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medicine man

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Digital Benin linked field	Institution field	Value
object id	ObjectID	45739
designation, object type	Title	Standing Figure of Bird
description	Description	Figure of a bird. Long legs on a square base. Feathers represented by incising.
material	Medium	Copper alloy
dimensions	Dimensions	7 1/2 × 6 7/8 in. (19 × 17.5 cm)
inscriptions	Inscriptions	"AF./2058" written in white underneath
date made	Alpha Sort 2	late 19th or early 20th century
date made	Begin Date	1868
production place	Geography	Place made: Benin City, Royal Court of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria, Africa
prior source	Credit Line	Alfred W. Jenkins Fund
provenance	Provenance	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; before 1912, reportedly Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers; 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.
ethnic attribution	Alpha Sort	Edo
ethnic attribution	Maker	Edo
exhibition history	Exhibition History
bibliography	Published References
	Object Number	39.112
	Sort Number	1939 112

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