Description
While this looks like a bracelet, it wasn’t worn around a wrist. A chief or titleholder grasped this “hand coil” vertically during the annual Iguẹ festival, during which such men reaffirm their relationship to the Ọba, whose mystical powers are strengthened. An image of a man’s head caps each end of the thick, twisted metal. Repeated human touch rubbed the undecorated lengths bright and shiny. Though small, the coil’s detail is enormous: to capture it, the artist incised the designs in wax during the casting process. They show these men are elites, with necklaces, caps, and whisker-like facial markings.
Provenance
Commissioned from the Igun Eronmwon, Benin Kingdom (1800s); (Reportedly, Lehmann Bernheimer, Munich, Germany) (1961); Mrs. Wilbur (Katherine) W. Merkel, Gates Mills, OH (before 1968, date unclear); Katherine C. White [1929-1980], Gates Mills, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art (by at least 1968–1975); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1975–)
Accession Number
1975.188
Medium
Copper alloy
Dimensions
Diameter: 11.5 cm (4 1/2 in.)
Classification
Implements
Credit Line
Gift of Katherine C. White