H x W x D: 130 x 12.2 x 10.4 cm (51 3/16 x 4 13/16 x 4 1/8 in.)
Type:
Sculpture
Geography:
Owo, Nigeria
Date:
19th century
Label Text:
Although collected at the time of the British Benin Punitive Expedition, this horn is very different from the rigid frontal composition and royal iconography of the Benin tusks. Note the deep relief carving with large, flat surface areas as well as the fluid poses of the snakes and the large human figures in profile. The bands of interlace and the fish-legged figures on the outer curve resemble those found on Benin tusks, indicating a connection existed between the Owo and Benin kingdoms.
Description:
Carved ivory tusk with entire surface carved with human figures, triangular faces and snakes radiating from a circle. Tusk has broken ends and overall delamination.
Provenance:
Sir Bruce Meade Hamilton, military commander of the British Benin Punitive Expedition, 1897
Hamilton family, -- to 1961
Sale, "Fine African Sculpture, Oceanic & South American Art, Egyptian, Greek & Roman Antiquities,"
Sotheby's, London, February 6, 1961, no. 161 (p. 36)
Mrs. Ackermann, 1961
Samuel Rubin, New York, after 1961 to 1979
Exhibition History:
Treasures 2008, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., April 9-August 24, 2008
Published References:
Hornbeck, Stephanie. 2016. "Ivory: I dentification and Regulation of a Precious Material." National Museum of African Art Conservation Lab publication. p.6.
Patton, Sharon F. and Bryna Freyer. 2008. Treasures 2008. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 134-135.
Sotheby & Co. 1961. Catalogue of Fine African Sculpture, Oceanic and South American Art. Auction catalogue (February 6). London, p. 36, no. 161.
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