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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.
Relief plaque showing a mudfish
Edo, Benin kingdom, Nigeria
c. 1530-1570
Medium/Technique
Copper alloy
Dimensions
Length x width: 40.6 x 16.5 cm (16 x 6 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Robert Owen Lehman Collection
Accession NumberL-G 7.27.2012
CollectionsAfrica and Oceania
ClassificationsPlaques
Although seemingly a humble subject, mudfish are a metaphor for the power of the Oba, or king, of Benin. This bronze plaque is part of a set of more than 800 that once decorated the pillars in the audience hall of the Oba. More than 40 of these plaques portray mudfish as the main subject. These fish live in streams and rivers, and so are associated with the god of wealth who lives below water. Yet mudfish can also live on dry land. They burrow into mud in the dry season and lie dormant until seasonal streams and rivers return during the rainy season. This ability to live on land and in the water makes the mudfish exceptional, and so they are compared to the Oba, who can move in both earthly and spiritual realms. Some mudfish have an electrical charge, which calls to mind the Oba's fearsome military and judicial power.
Provenance16th century, commissioned by Oba Esigie (r. 1517-1550s) or his son Oba Orhogbua (r. 1550s-1570s), Royal Palace, Benin City; by descent to Oba Ovonramwen (Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, b. about 1857 – d. about 1914; r. 1888 - 1897); 1897, looted from the Royal Palace during the British military occupation of Benin; 1898, given by the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the British Museum, London (accession no. 98.1-15.187); 1972, acquired from the British Museum by Robert Owen Lehman, Rochester, NY; 2012, promised gift of Robert Owen Lehman to the MFA.