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Thumbnail-size images of copyrighted artworks are displayed under fair use, in accordance with guidelines recommended by the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts, published by the College Art Association in February 2015.
Hip ornament showing a leopard
Royal Ivory-workers Guild (Igbesanmwan) (Nigerian)
Edo, Benin kingdom, Nigeria
17th century
Medium/Technique
Ivory
Dimensions
Height x length: 10.2 x 26.7 cm (4 x 10 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Robert Owen Lehman Collection
Accession NumberL-G 7.17.2012
CollectionsJewelry, Africa and Oceania
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment
The dark, smooth surface of this hip ornament reflects the age of the ivory and the regular care and maintenance that its owner provided. The leopard would have been worn on the left hip, covering the knot of a senior courtier's wrapper. Ivory sculptures were carved by a royal guild called Igbesanmwan, from small hip ornaments like this one to elaborate carved tusks made for memorial altars. Some scholars argue that only a war chief would have worn a leopard hip ornament, as a reminder of his allegiance to the king of Benin and an allusion to the fierce, predatory power of the leopard.
ProvenanceBy 1959, Jay C. Leff (b. 1925 - d. 2000), Uniontown, PA [see note]; April 22, 1967, Leff sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, lot 77, sold for $2400. 2012, promised gift of Robert Owen Lehman to the MFA.
NOTE: Included in the exhibitions "Exotic Art from Ancient and Primitive Civilizations: Collection of Jay C. Leff (Carnegie Institute, October 15, 1959 – January 3, 1960), cat. no. 290 and "African Sculpture from the Collection of Jay C. Leff" (Museum of Primitive Art, New York, November 25, 1964 – February 7, 1965), cat. no. 81.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Although the early provenance of this object is not recorded, it is likely that British forces looted it from the Royal Palace in Benin City in 1897. At that time troops occupied the city and seized approximately 4,000 works of art; these objects then made their way to European collectors, dealers, and museums. It is also possible that it left Benin City at a later date or by other means that have not been documented.
NOTE: Included in the exhibitions "Exotic Art from Ancient and Primitive Civilizations: Collection of Jay C. Leff (Carnegie Institute, October 15, 1959 – January 3, 1960), cat. no. 290 and "African Sculpture from the Collection of Jay C. Leff" (Museum of Primitive Art, New York, November 25, 1964 – February 7, 1965), cat. no. 81.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Although the early provenance of this object is not recorded, it is likely that British forces looted it from the Royal Palace in Benin City in 1897. At that time troops occupied the city and seized approximately 4,000 works of art; these objects then made their way to European collectors, dealers, and museums. It is also possible that it left Benin City at a later date or by other means that have not been documented.