Plaque

Object Details

Benin kingdom court style

Edo artist

Label Text

According to local court histories and the accounts of early 17th century Dutch travelers, the oba or king of Benin covered the piers of his palace courtyard with hundreds of plaques such as this. As a sheer display of wealth and power, this act would rival covering the White House with gold from Fort Knox. But more than excess, it reveals aspects of artistic technique, local history and a society in which art was essential. Today, some 900 plaques survive in public and private collections, but there is no documentation to indicate how they once were arranged. After 1700, travelers' accounts do not mention the plaques, and an 1897 British military force found them in a palace storehouse. A few plaques show narrative scenes, such as battles and hunts; some depict symbolic animals; most, like this example, have one, two or more male figures in court regalia.

Benin art served as both a sign of status and a record of court life. The oba, nobles, officials and attendants were depicted on various objects, including plaques. Costumes and regalia indicated their relative position in the court hierarchy. The warriors on this plaque carry swords and short bows and wear headdresses made from imported horsetail. According to early accounts, horsetail headdresses symbolized military authority and were worn by war chiefs. Fanning out in low relief behind the heads, the horsetail is sculpted in a manner similar to Benin depictions of European hair or the fins and tails of the mudfish, a symbolically significant animal. Both Europeans and the mudfish are associated with Olokun, the god of the waters and bringer of wealth.

Benin art emphasizes patterns and texture; empty space is avoided. A background pattern of quatrefoil "river leaves" is typical of most Benin plaques. Symbolically the background design is another reference to Olokun, who is linked with the oba and wealth, and to the oba's monopoly on foreign trade. Artistically the loose, freehand quality of the linear foliate motif contrasts with the formal pose, frontality and high relief of the figures. The well-defined musculature of the legs on this plaque is unusual and may be the style of a particular artist.

This recurring emphasis on wealth and foreign trade leads back to the most basic and blatant of symbols, the metal itself. The most obvious effect of Benin's overseas trade with Europe was a dramatic increase in the availability of copper and brass. European ingots and imported metal trade goods provided the raw material that was transformed into royal Benin art by metal casters who worked solely for the oba.

Description

Cast copper alloy plaque with two men with short bows in their proper left hands, upraised swords in their proper right hands, wearing short wrapped skirts, quadrangular bells, leopard teeth collars and horsetail headdresses. The man on the proper left has a beard. Both men have legs with modelled knees and calves.

Provenance

Augustus Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers, Farnham, Dorset, before 1900

Pitt-Rivers estate, 1900

Aaron Furman Gallery, New York, 1959

Joseph H. Hirshhorn, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1959 to 1966

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1966 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)

IYARE!: Splendor and Tension in Benin's Palace Theater, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, November 1, 2008-February 28, 2009

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

African Art in Washington Collections, Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., May 25, 1972-January 1, 1973

Published References

Curnow, Kathy. 2016. Iyare!: Splendor and Tension in Benin's Palace Theatre. Cleveland, OH: Kathy Curnow.

Freyer, Bryna. 1987. Royal Benin Art in the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, no. 13.

Koslow, Philip. 1996. Benin: Lords of the River. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, p. 38.

Museum of African Art. 1973. African Art in Washington Collections. Washington, D.C.: Museum of African Art, p. 29, no.193.

National Museum of African Art. 1999. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 81, no. 53.

Pitt-Rivers, Augustus. 1900 [1976]. Antique Works of Art from Benin. London [Reprint New York: Dover], pl. 22, fig. 130.

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Credit Line

Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn to the Smithsonian Institution in 1966

Mid-16th to 17th century

Object number

85-19-6

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Sculpture

Medium

Copper alloy

Dimensions

H x W x D: 34.9 × 29.2 × 6.7 cm (13 3/4 × 11 1/2 × 2 5/8 in.)

Geography

Nigeria

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

National Museum of African Art

Topic

Status

weapon

male

floral

Record ID

nmafa_85-19-6

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys7dfe0a83b-34a3-498e-b352-46ba242a9cae