Benin Kingdom (1500-1900) Flashcards
Benin (4 points)
-A civilization located where is now known as Southwest Nigeria, close to River Niger; it was a historic Kingdom of West Africa
-1400 to 1500
-British Punitive stole their treasures and burnt their city
-Art Represented their religion, their history and their leader
Head of The Oba (9 points)
-1550 to 1680, brass
-The King of Benin; semidivine, related by blood to the gods
-The current Oba was always the first son of the previous Oba
-The Shape head is stylized to represent prosperity and power and made to commemorate deceased kings
-Was placed on alters
-Wears a crown made with pearls and coral, traded goods which represented richness within the kingdom
-The dots over his eyes were called ikharol; they represent scars, a symbol of high status within society
-He wears necklaces which are also a high symbol of status
-Big Eyes to symbolise the obas ability to see
Altar Tusk (3 points)
-1888 to 1897, ivory
-Were introduced in Obas heads
-Came from elephants horns, which were difficult to acquire as hunters had to travel to capture the animal and then kill them with poision darts; basically it was considered a delicacy. From here they were gifted to the oba, symbolising a religious tributes to the gods due to the obas connection with the gods
Benins Matrimony??
Polygamy
Coral (2 points)
-Was worn around the neck of the actual oba
-Signified wealth and importance
Lost-Wax Casting (2 points)
This used a metal alloy, pure beeswax and clay mixed with goats hair in order to produce a duplicate metal sculpture which is cast from the original
-Also called ‘investment casting’, ‘precision casting’ or ‘are perdue’
Head of the Queen Mother (10 points)
-16th century, brass
-The queen mother was the woman who gave birth to the oba, the oldest son of the current oba (note that due to benins polygamy, the mother of the obas children may not be the same person as the queen mother)
-She was treated as a man as a sign of her privilege; she had a masculine position within benins society
-Because the oba was believed to be a decendent of the gods, the queen mother was believed to have special abilities
-She was killed after the new oba took on the thrown, after puberty
-This death was considered to be an honour
-Note that there were high child death rates for the time, so the queen mother also had to successfully raise the child, keeping it alive until puberty, thus making her the queen mother
-Symbolically, she was related to the rooster, a symbol of masculinity and fertility
-To demonstrate this, the head was elongated to mimic the crest of the rooster
-The head of the Queen mother was also displayed on alters
Plaque of the Oba with Mudfish Legs (5 points)
-16th Century, brass
-The plaque depicts the oba holding 2 leopards, animals which were viewed as the kings of the forest, being a useful symbol for the status of the king. It was a strong hunter, fast and agile
-The king holds the leopards by their tales to connote superiority
-The mudfish was considered to be very special in this culture as well, having a primordial breathing system that allows them to survive in diverse environments (water, mud, land). They were believed to have special powers due to this diversity. Summarised, they live in warm climates and breath little air
-The background shows important symbols; the circled cross and the quatrefoil leave. They are related to Olokun, the god of the waters or the seas (which would include richness like pearls and coral)
Queen Mother Pendant Mask (3 points)
-16th Century, ivory, iron and brass
-Has models of portugese traders as they came from the sea, bringing goods and delicacies, such as brass and copper
-they are still, however, shown as small compared to the oba and the queen mother
Modern Context
-Today, most of the Benin artifacts are held between the Ethnological Museum of Berlin and in the British Museum in London
-Example; Queen Elizabeth the First received a Benin bronze in 1973, by the president of Nigeria
