The surface of this altar for a departed family member was once brightly painted. A wealthy Fon man stands ready to give an address before a lavish banquet. The Chippendale-style chair behind him, the top hat and tunic he wears, and the pipe he carries all suggest fashionable taste and the means to afford the best in life. A goat and a chicken, animals commonly offered in sacrifice to the deceased in well-to-do families, are also included in the scene. Two French flags wave over the table, perhaps indicating the source of the man’s wealth. Before 1807, the city of Ouidah was an international center where goods from Europe were exchanged for enslaved men and women captured by the Fon kingdom. By the time this altar was made, however, the terrible trade in human lives had been outlawed in transatlantic trade, and trade in palm oil took its place.

A family would have commissioned this iron altar to be kept in a special room in their home. The altar and others like it offered the living a way to connect with the deceased. At regular festivals of commemoration, important events like a birth or a wedding, or when advice was needed, a member of the family could make an offering of food and seek the counsel of the ancestors represented. Since the eighteenth century, these altars have been a regular feature of life along the Benin coast for prosperous families, much like engraved tombstones elsewhere. The family would have commissioned the particular scene to reflect the life of the deceased, with great emphasis placed on his wealth and success in order to honor his spirit.

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