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Commemorative Head
Edo, Benin kingdom, Nigeria
16th–17th century
Object Place: Nigeria
Medium/Technique
Terracotta, iron
Dimensions
Overall: 16.5 x 8.9 cm (6 1/2 x 3 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Robert Owen Lehman Collection
Accession Number2013.1732
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAfrica and Oceania
ClassificationsSculpture
Provenance16th/17th century, probably made for a member of the Igun Eronmwon, or royal brasscasters guild, for a family altar, Benin City. 1897, looted from the Royal Palace during the British military occupation of Benin. May 24, 1899, sold by William D. Cutter (dealer), London to William Downing Webster (dealer; b. 1863 - d. 1913), London (stock no. 7310); June 8, 1899, sold for £5 by Webster to Lt.-General Augustus Henry Pitt-Rivers (b. 1827 - d. 1900), Farnham, England; until the 1960s, kept at the Pitt-Rivers Museum, Farnham, and passed by descent within the family [see note]; 1970s, sold upon the dispersal of the collection. About 1970s, acquired by Robert Owen Lehman, Rochester, NY; 2013, gift of Robert Owen Lehman to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 18, 2013)
NOTE: The collection of the privately-owned Pitt-Rivers museum 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 the 1960s and the collection was sold.
NOTE: The collection of the privately-owned Pitt-Rivers museum 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 the 1960s and the collection was sold.