Description
Nearly 900 metal plaques once adorned the Ọba’s palace courtyard, documenting Benin’s history and customs. This one depicts two male attendants (enobore) supporting an Ọba. It uses hierarchical composition: important figures are large and centered. Everything about the Ọba is greater than his companions: their bodies, clothing, and jewelry. The flanking attendants physically support a man weighed down by heavy royal garments and responsibilities. Brasscasters skillfully cast their clasping hands projecting from the plaque. The bottom left number means the British Museum formerly owned this. It entered their collection in 1898, one year after British troops took it from a palace storeroom during the Siege of Benin.
Provenance
Commissioned from the Igun Eronmwon (possibly 1500s-1600s.); by descent to Ọba Ovọnramwẹn (Ovọnramwẹn Nogbaisi, [c. 1857–1914; r. 1888–97], Royal Palace, Benin City; sent to England by Sir Ralph Moor following the Siege of Benin (1897) (1897); to the British Museum by gift from Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; British Museum, London, until 1950 as no. 98/1-5/43 (1897-1950); (Sydney Burney, London, as sales agent
for the British Museum, 1950, sold to Kent-Bragaline, Inc.; Edward A. Bragaline, New York City, NY) (1950-by at least 1963); Edward A. Bragaline, New York City, NY, sold to private collectors; (Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York City, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) (1999); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1999-)
Accession Number
1999.1
Medium
Copper alloy
Dimensions
Overall: 45.7 x 38.1 cm (18 x 15 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund
