Object Details
- Label Text
- This head was once displayed on an altar honoring a particular oba, or king. It is not a specific portrait but an image of the status and regalia of kingship. Particular emphasis is given to the collar and crown made of imported coral beads.
- Description
- Cast copper alloy cylindrical head with a beaded neck to the lower lip of the mouth, netted bead cap with clusters of beads on the sides, cylindrical beads in front, strands of beads in front of theears, braids behind the ears and a single large bead on the forehead. The face has 3 keloids over each eye.
- Provenance
- Benin Punitive Expedition, 1897
- Mrs. E.C.Gaze and R.H.H. Barneby, 1965
- Sotheby and Co. auction, London, March 29, 1965
- Kamer Gallery, New York, 1967 to 1968
- Joseph H. Hirshhorn, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1968 to 1979
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1979 to 1985
- Exhibition History
- Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 4, 2017-ongoing (deinstalled October 25, 2021)
- Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue - From the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, November 7, 2014-January 24, 2016
- Pavilion, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., October 2, 2002
- The Ancient West African City of Benin, A.D. 1300-1897, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 28, 1987-June 1, 2004
- Published References
- Freyer, Bryna. 1987. Royal Benin Art in the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, no. 2.
- Kreamer, Christine Mullen and Adrienne L. Childs (eds). 2014. Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue from the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 45-46, 50, no. 44, pl. 1.
- Robbins, Warren M. and Nancy I. Nooter. 1989. African Art in American Collections. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, p. 215, no. 553.
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Data Source
- National Museum of African Art
- Maker
- Benin kingdom court style
- Edo artist
- Date
- 18th century
- Credit Line
- Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn to the Smithsonian Institution in 1979
- Medium
- Copper alloy, iron
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 33 x 23.5 x 23.2 cm (13 x 9 1/4 x 9 1/8 in.)
- Type
- Sculpture
