H x W x D: 44.1 x 19.7 x 6 cm (17 3/8 x 7 3/4 x 2 3/8 in.)
Type:
Sculpture
Geography:
Nigeria
Date:
Mid-16th to 17th century
Label Text:
In the early 1600s, a Dutch report described the royal palace of the Benin court as having "beautiful and long square galleries . . . one larger than another resting on wooden pillars . . . covered with cast copper . . . pictures of their war exploits and battles." Later travelers' accounts did not mention the plaques; however, the British military punitive expedition found them in a palace storehouse in 1897.
Today, over 900 plaques are in public and private collections, but there is no documentation explaining how they were arranged on the palace walls. Allowing for damage, they are relatively uniform in size and shape. While some plaques show scenes, such as battles and hunts, and others hierarchical multiple figures, many have one or two male figures in court regalia. They depict members of the royal court in the proper trappings for different ceremonies.
This plaque shows a male, as do all but one of the known examples. He is an Edo, a citizen as identified by the vertical scarification marks on his torso. Like the figure on this plaque, contemporary chiefs in Benin wear pendants on their left hips and carry ebens, fanlike swords, on ceremonial occasions. The eben is held high and twirled as a gesture of repect to the ruler.
Description:
Cast copper alloy plaque with a standing male figure with an eben, a leaf blade ceremonial sword, in his upraised proper right hand. The figure is bare chested with a leopard's teeth collar and a face form hip mask on his proper left. The plaque has a repair or restoration in the proper left lower corner.
Provenance:
Benin Punitive Expedition, 1897
Galerie Kamer, Paris, 1968
Joseph H. Hirshhorn, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1968 to 1979
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1979 to 1985
Exhibition History:
Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 4, 2017-ongoing (deinstalled October 25, 2021)
Chief S.O. Alonge: Photographer to the Royal Court of Benin, Nigeria, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 17, 2014-July 31, 2016
The Ancient West African City of Benin, A.D. 1300-1897, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 28, 1987-June 1, 2004
Published References:
Freyer, Bryna. 1987. Royal Benin Art in the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, no. 14.
Schrenk, J. L. 1994. The Royal Art of Benin: Surfaces, Past and Present. Ancient and Historic Metals. Proceedings of a symposium organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum and Getty Conservation Institute, November 1991. Ed. D. A. Scott, J. Podany and B. Considine. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Trust.
Content Statement:
As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
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