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Battle by battle, Benin expanded from a kingdom to an empire. In the sixteenth century, the kings of Benin ruled more than two million subjects in an area about the size of New England. During this period, the sprawling palace in Benin City was made up of many courtyards that could host large crowds, as well as private areas for the royal family and members of the court. One of the courtyards was decorated with more than 850 bronze plaques like this one, which were attached to the square pillars supporting the roof of the veranda that shaded the perimeter of the space. Oba Esigie (r. 1517–50s) likely commissioned this massive art project as a way of asserting his authority after a succession struggle and civil war, while his son Orhogbua (r. 1550s–70s) may have completed the vast project after his father’s death.
This plaque depicts two senior courtiers with ceremonial swords held aloft. These swords were used in special celebrations at court, when high-ranking men would send them twirling into the air and catch them before they fell to the ground. The figures on this plaque are wearing a wealth of coral beads, which can be seen in their crowns, high necklaces, bands crossing the chest, and anklets. The leopard-face ornaments cinching the men’s wrappers, on each man’s left hip, also point to the king’s power; the Benin king was often metaphorically compared to a leopard, a fast, powerful, and stealthy animal.
Relief plaque showing two officials with raised swords
Edo, Benin kingdom, Nigeria
c. 1530-1570
Medium/Technique
Copper alloy
Dimensions
Length x width: 43.2 x 31.8 cm (17 x 12 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Robert Owen Lehman Collection
Accession Number2018.223
CollectionsAfrica and Oceania
ClassificationsPlaques
Battle by battle, Benin expanded from a kingdom to an empire. In the sixteenth century, the kings of Benin ruled more than two million subjects in an area about the size of New England. During this period, the sprawling palace in Benin City was made up of many courtyards that could host large crowds, as well as private areas for the royal family and members of the court. One of the courtyards was decorated with more than 850 bronze plaques like this one, which were attached to the square pillars supporting the roof of the veranda that shaded the perimeter of the space. Oba Esigie (r. 1517–50s) likely commissioned this massive art project as a way of asserting his authority after a succession struggle and civil war, while his son Orhogbua (r. 1550s–70s) may have completed the vast project after his father’s death.
This plaque depicts two senior courtiers with ceremonial swords held aloft. These swords were used in special celebrations at court, when high-ranking men would send them twirling into the air and catch them before they fell to the ground. The figures on this plaque are wearing a wealth of coral beads, which can be seen in their crowns, high necklaces, bands crossing the chest, and anklets. The leopard-face ornaments cinching the men’s wrappers, on each man’s left hip, also point to the king’s power; the Benin king was often metaphorically compared to a leopard, a fast, powerful, and stealthy animal.
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 and kept by the Crown Agent of the Niger Coast Protectorate, London; March 24, 1898, sold by the Crown Agent of the Niger Coast Protectorate for £ 7 to Lt.-General Augustus Henry Pitt-Rivers (b. 1827 - d. 1900), Farnham, England; 1966, Pitt-Rivers Museum closed and collection passed by descent to Stella Howson-Clive (Pitt-Rivers), Dorset [see note]. By 2011, Robert Owen Lehman, Rochester, NY; 2018, gift of Robert Owen Lehman to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 19, 2018)
NOTE:
Augustus Pitt-Rivers established a privately-owned museum in Dorset in 1880, where he housed acquisitions he made between 1880 and 1900. He kept several notebooks recording the collection, now held by Cambridge University. The collection passed by descent through Augustus Henry Pitt-Rivers’s son, Alexander Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers, to his grandson, Captain George Pitt-Rivers (1890-1966) and his common law wife, Stella Howson-Clive (Pitt-Rivers). The museum closed in 1966 and portions of the collection were sold.
NOTE:
Augustus Pitt-Rivers established a privately-owned museum in Dorset in 1880, where he housed acquisitions he made between 1880 and 1900. He kept several notebooks recording the collection, now held by Cambridge University. The collection passed by descent through Augustus Henry Pitt-Rivers’s son, Alexander Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers, to his grandson, Captain George Pitt-Rivers (1890-1966) and his common law wife, Stella Howson-Clive (Pitt-Rivers). The museum closed in 1966 and portions of the collection were sold.