Family Gallery Guide Drawing by Joanne Wood

Home , Oba (ruler)

Royal Art of Benin from the Perls Collection Treasures from an African Kingdom Family Gallery Guide Drawing by Joanne Wood

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Funding for this publication was provided by the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation. Royal Art of Benin: Family Gallery Guide

This guide will introduce you to the royal art of Heads made of brass representing past Obas are Benin. It will help you to understand the art placed on the royal altars, since the Edo believe you are viewing and to have fun doing so. "using one's head" is how a person leads a The most important person in the kingdom is successful life. Look in the gallery for a brass head the Oba. He rules over the people of Benin, who of an Oba. The Obas' brass heads are shown are known as the Edo people. They believe the wearing beaded collars that cover their chins and Oba has the powers of a god. His powers come beaded caplike crowns decorated with clusters of from past Obas, his ancestors. The first Oba beads and hanging beaded and braided strands. ruled in A.D. 1300. Modern-day Obas continue Actually, the beads used are coral beads. Coral is to honor their ancestors and call upon them to a red rocklike material formed by the skeletons strengthen the Oba's powers and protect the of tiny sea animals. Its red color is a symbol of health and happiness of the kingdom. The Oba the frightening, godlike powers of the Oba. has his craftsmen create art objects for special Beads made of coral are considered very precious platforms, called altars, in his palace. Many and are a sign of power, wealth, and importance ceremonies and offerings to the ancestors are in Benin. performed by the Oba and his priests every year at these altars.

There are many symbols on the objects made for the Oba and his altars. A symbol is an image, such as a person or an animal, that stands for something else. Can you think of an animal that is a symbol for the United States of America? Or an animal used as a symbol by a football or baseball team? By learning more about Benin symbols and looking at Benin art, you will understand their meanings, uses, and importance to the Edo people. The elephant is a symbol of strength, wisdom, Amazing creatures called mudfish are found in the and leadership — all necessary qualities for a waters of Benin. These fish, with whiskers like a ruling Oba. Carved elephant tusks are placed on catfish, can live both in water and on dry land! top of the brass heads. The upward curve of the Look for fish on the art objects made for the Oba in tusk stands for the Oba's link between this world the galleries. Why is the mudfish a good symbol for and the spirit world of the ancestors. the Oba? Here's a hint to their meaning.

The drawing on the other side of this guide is taken from a tusk that a newly crowned Oba ordered to be carved to honor his deceased father, the former Oba. You will find the figures of Obas, priests, and warriors. (When you get home you may want to add color to the drawing.)

The Oba rules the dry land of the Edo people just as Olokun, the god of the waters, rules the spiritual world of the ancestors. Mudfish represent the Oba's ability to communicate between the dry land of man and the watery spirit world of Olokun.

Some mudfish in the waters of Benin give a shock like an electric eel, which is another reason why they are used as symbols for the Oba's power. If It is also believed that the mother of the Oba you find a coiled mudfish depicted on an object, has supernatural powers to help her son. She is it stands for the Oba's ability to cast a curse that honored with an altar dedicated only to her, which only he can release. includes a brass head as well. You can recognize her brass head by its pointed and beaded crown. As the ruler of the spirit world, Olokun is the Many brass sculptures of roosters were also placed counterpart to the Oba, the ruler of the human on her altar. The rooster is a symbol of the Queen world. And, like the Oba, Olokun is believed to Mother. Look for a brass head of a Queen Mother or help bring wealth to the kingdom. her symbol, the rooster, in the galleries. Portuguese traders arrived in Benin by sea in Serving under the Oba are a large number of i486. They bought pepper, cloth, slaves, and officials, including chiefs, priests, and warriors. ivory from the Oba. In return, these traders paid These officials are in charge of the day-to-day the Oba with brass and copper bracelets called running of the kingdom. Groups of craftsmen, manillas. The manillas were melted down to make including blacksmiths, brasscasters, ivory and many of the brass art objects for the royal altars. wood carvers, and bead and costume makers, work for the Oba and his court of officials. Many The Portuguese traders also gave the Oba cowrie of these officials and the ceremonies they take shells, red cloth from Europe, and coral beads, all part in are shown on rectangular brass plaques. things prized by the Edo people and used on These plaques were made to decorate the pillars, ceremonial costumes showing the wealth of or columns, that support the Oba's palace. important people in the Benin court. Why do you think the Edo people believed the Portuguese Look for a plaque with many figures on it. The traders were connected with Olokun? figures on the plaque are arranged with the most important person in the center. This central figure is also larger than all of the other figures. You can tell all about the people represented by their size, costume, ornaments, hairstyle, and what they hold in their hands. Can you guess who these figures might be? The very small figures are not children but attendants serving the warrior chief and the warriors on either side of him. The small size of the attendants shows they are less important.

Behind the figures on the background of these plaques are patterns. A pattern is made by repeating the same shapes and lines over and over again. Benin craftsmen often use a pattern made up of river leaves. These leaves are a symbol for Olokun. Look for other patterns on the plaques and other objects in the galleries.

Look for a Portuguese merchant. You can recognize him by his long hair and nose, his beard and mustache, and his European costume. They are sometimes shown on horseback or holding bracelet-shaped manillas. Warriors hold spears and shields, and wear helmets In the sixteenth century, Oba Esigie and his army and tunics with leopard-tooth necklaces and defended Benin against an attacking kingdom. As bells. Important warrior chiefs also wear small Esigie set out to do battle, a bird appeared crying cast-brass ornaments, sometimes in the shape of a certain defeat for the Benin army. Rather than leopard face, on their left hip over their wrapped retreat, Esigie rallied his troops and ordered the bird skirt. Leopards are swift, ferocious and able to killed. The Benin army went on to win the battle take human life. Why do you think the leopard is and expand the borders of the Benin kingdom. a symbol used by warriors? To honor Oba Esigie's triumph and the power of all Obas to defeat enemies of the kingdom, chiefs strike these clappers in palace ceremonies.

Now that you have learned more about the objects and symbols in Benin art, design a hip ornament you might want to wear. Think of animals or people you would use to symbolize your power and importance.

As the king of the forest, the leopard is also a symbol for the Oba, the king of the city. The Oba too has the power to take a human life. As the supreme judge in Benin, he has the power to condemn a person to death. Look for a leopard. What does the circle pattern represent on the leopard?

Clappers with a long-beaked bird on top are used in palace ceremonies. This bird is a symbol called the bird of prophecy. To understand his importance, you need to know about an event in Benin history.

Funding for this publication was provided by the Horace W Goldsmith Foundation.

Row 4

:i:i. Row 3

Row 2 Drawing by Joanne Wood

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART These posters were prepared in conjunction with the exhibition Royal Art of Benin from the Perls Collection: Treasures from an African Kingdom, January 16-September 13,1992. The royal art of the Kingdom of Benin is unique in carvers and metalsmiths to create art glorifying his African art. Made of durable materials such as brass father and the great Obas of the past. Prominent and ivory, Benin objects provide an unbroken artistic among the many art works on the royal ancestor altar and historical record extending back 500 years. are cast-brass heads and carved ivory tusks. Although ancient and traditional, Benin art is by no means a dead art The Kingdom of Benin, still in The Edo believe that the head symbolizes the intel existence today, is part of the modern state of Nigeria. ligence, judgment, and character necessary for a It is located in the tropical rainforest in the southern successful life. As a tribute to the achievements of part of the country. The majority of the kingdom's an Oba's father, a cast-brass image of his head is an people are known as Edo, the name also given to their important object within a royal shrine. These cast language. heads are not individual portraits but are generalized to emphasize the role of kingship in Benin society. All political and spiritual beliefs and activities They include the coral-bead crown and high collar that revolve around the king, called "Oba" in the native Edo are features of the Oba's royal costume. The welfare of language. According to Edo oral tradition, the Obas the people as a whole depends on the Oba's head, originally descended from divine ancestors. Because of which is an object of worship at the state rituals each his divine nature, the Oba possesses spiritual powers year. to control forces that affect the entire kingdom. He is the channel through which the spirits of his ancestors Since the eighteenth century, carved elephant tusks continue to protect the Edo people and ensure a have been mounted on top of the brass heads. The prosperous future. He is still honored in traditional tusks stand for the projection on the Oba's crown. ceremonies, such as those held every year in the Vertical projections such as this are considered a link capital, Benin City, during which the Oba and his sub between the living world of man and the spiritual world jects perform in religious rituals. Through these rituals of the ancestors. The tusks are covered with orderly the Oba's spiritual powers to govern and guide his rows of carved figures that refer to the political and people are renewed and his abilities to drive out evil spiritual aspects of the Oba's power, past and present. are celebrated. The photograph and schematic drawing are of a The Oba is also the focus of Benin art. His extraor late-nineteenth-century tusk commissioned by Oba dinary spiritual, military, and political powers are Ovonrramwen (r. ca. 1888-97) for the altar of his made visible through the use of symbols, gestures, father, Oba Adolo (r. ca. 1850-88). The artists' guilds intricately detailed costumes and regalia, and his work exclusively for the Oba and the chiefs and priests size in relation to other figures in the same image. in his command. These guilds include blacksmiths, Art objects of ivory and brass, materials traditionally brasscasters, ivory and wood carvers, bead and controlled by the Oba, were created to honor royal costume makers, and leather workers. Membership ancestors, depict the complex hierarchy of chiefs and in the guilds is hereditary, and the skills are passed priests who regulated the kingdom under his super on from one generation to the next. The artists draw vision, glorify past military victories, and portray the inspiration from the works of the past and learn a Oba's relationships with foreign traders. vocabulary of individual motifs. They put these motifs together like words to create specific meanings. Tusks As the intermediary between his ancestors and the are "read" from the base to the tip. Start from the people, a newly crowned Oba establishes a royal altar bottom and read this royal tusk to learn more about commemorating his father and commissions his the history and beliefs of the Edo people of Benin. N I

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i V Benin royal ancestral altars dedicated to Obas Ovonrramwen (r. ca. 1888-97) and Eweka II (r. 1914-33). Photograph by William Fagg, 1958 (58/53/2). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Photograph Study Collection, The William B. Fagg Archives. Courtesy of the Royal Anthropological Institute, London

[m ul • 1A THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART These posters were prepared in conjunction with the exhibition Royal Art of Benin from the Perls Collection: Treasures from an African Kingdom, January 16-September 13,1992. Royal ancestor tusks from Benin are meant to be read from the base to the top. Start reading this poster from the bottom to discover the meanings of the figures depicted on the tusk.

Row 6 The Oba's economic and spiritual wealth from across the sea The figure in this row depicts a Portuguese trader. depicted with long hair, beards, mustaches, sharp Portuguese traders first made contact with Benin in aquiline noses, and European dress. Benin artists are 1486 and had a great impact on the kingdom. The Oba often very conservative, and the foreign traders received brass and copper rings (known as manillas), continued to be shown in fifteenth- and sixteenth- cowrie shells, European cloth, and coral and glass century dress long after these clothes became beads in payment for pepper, cotton cloth, slaves, and unfashionable and long after the Portuguese were ivory. The manillas provided the material to produce replaced by other European traders, notably the English brass objects. Since the Europeans arrived by sea and and the Dutch. To the right of this figure are rows of brought wealth to the kingdom, they are associated cowrie shells, which were used as money and further with the god Olokun. Foreign merchants are often emphasize the theme of wealth.

Row 5 The Oba's supernatural powers The figure in this row depicts Ooton, a palace priest projection at the top, and wand for chasing away evil whose presence is required at the sacrifice of animals spirits. Here he is shown surrounded by the heads of to the Oba and his ancestors. This ceremony is essen two crocodiles and a fowl, which are sacrificial animals. tial for the continued well-being of ths kingdom. Ooton Beside him is a coconut leaf, also probably offered is identified by his long woven dress, coiffure with a as a sacrifice.

x-W: Row 4 The Oba's worldly power This figure represents Ozolua the Conqueror, one of very valuable, and ivory, whose trade was controlled Benin's great warrior kings, who reigned in the late solely by the Oba, is a symbol of prosperity. The hand fifteenth century. He is identified by his long dress, represents an individual's ability to achieve wealth said to be of mail; coral-bead crown and collar; and or status through his own actions or skills. Altars charm-laden necklaces. During Ozolua's reign, Benin dedicated to the hand are set up by warriors, chiefs, greatly expanded its territory by conquering neighbor craftsmen, and others who have attained wealth or ing kingdoms. He holds the fanlike, pierced eben sword status. In the elephant-head motif on the right the used by the Oba and his chiefs in rituals honoring hand grasps a leaf symbolizing the special powers ancestors. that elephants and other animals have through their He is flanked by stylized images of elephant heads knowledge of leaves and herbs. The use of this with trunks that end in hands. In Benin art both the elephant-head motif is a statement about the elephant and the hand are symbols of wealth and acquisition of wealth through personal achievement, personal achievement. The image of an elephant head and also refers to the special physical, political, and and trunk refers to the elephant's role as a chief military strength and knowledge possessed by the Oba among the animals of Africa and to the elephant's and the chiefs who counsel him. great physical strength. The elephant's ivory tusks are Row 3 The Oba's political authority This linked group of figures represents the Oba with ng of the forest. The aggressive, swift, and ferocious his elbows and hands supported by high officials or qualities of the leopard are also associated with the priests. The figures appear in their full coral-bead attire Oba in his role as the judicial authority over the life and (crown and shirt) and woven skirts with waist pendants death of his subjects. Like the leopard in his realm, the representing crocodile heads, a symbol associated Oba has the supreme power to take a human life. Edo with the god Olokun. This figural arrangement is re folk tales also attribute wisdom and fairness to the created by the Oba and his attendants during the leopard, making it an even more appropriate symbol coronation ceremonies of the Oba and at other major for the Oba. palace festivals. The number three symbolizes the In earlier times, tamed leopards were kept by the supernatural forces at the Oba's disposal and his Oba and accompanied him through the city during power to punish enemies. This triad is a visual state ceremonial occasions. The Oba's triumph and superi ment of the central authority possessed by the Oba ority over the leopard were further demonstrated by the and balanced by the people's support necessary to his sacrifice of leopards at the Oba's coronation and at rule, and it is a recurring image in Benin art. the annual festival, Igue, which renewed the spiritual On the far right is a leopard. As the predominant powers of the Oba and strengthened the kingdom. wild cat found in Nigeria, the leopard is considered the

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Row 2 The Oba's military powers On the left is a Benin warrior who has been given the extensive coral-bead regalia, which includes a coral- right to take human life as a representative of the Oba. bead tunic and choker. His cap with a feather on one He wears a tunic with a leopard face on the chest, a side also signifies his high rank and helps to leopard-tooth necklace to signify his swift and fierce distinguish him from other chiefs. He wears the nature and a bell around his neck to frighten the leopard-tooth necklace and bell associated with enemy. He holds a spear and a shield and wears a warriors and a leopard-head ornament on his hip helmet covered with cowrie shells. signifying his military authority. He raises a ceremonial On the right is a priest of Olokun, who wears a sword called an eben in a gesture of honor and loyalty basketry hat with a feather on one side, suggesting his offered by chiefs to the Oba. importance. He is also wearing a coral-bead collar that The bird to the left of lyase may refer to the "bird of further denotes his importance. All coral beads are prophecy." In the early sixteenth century, Oba Esigie owned by the Oba and given by him to high-ranking and his army defended Benin against the neighboring officials who serve him. The beads are returned to kingdom of Igala. As Esigie set out to do battle with the the Oba upon the official's death. Coral beads are Igala, a bird appeared crying impending disaster for considered very precious and are a sign of wealth the Benin army. Rather than retreat, Esigie rallied his and status. The mudfish motif to his right further troops and ordered the bird killed. The Benin army went identifies him as a priest of Olokun. on to defeat the Igala, thus expanding the borders of lyase, depicted between the warrior and the priest, is the Benin kingdom. The bird of prophecy symbolizes the leader of the Town Chiefs of Benin and serves as the great military victory of a past Oba and the unique one of the two most important military chiefs in the ability of every Oba to overcome fate and destiny. Benin court. Ivase's higher rank is displayed by his if Row 1 The Oba's powers in the spiritual realm In this row the figure second from left wears a cross a sspoi t of blood or chalk that heightens a priest's pendant and a shallow-brimmed hat and holds a staff spispirituai l powers. and a hammer. He may represent either a type of TTh e creature on the far right is a mudfish. Mudfish palace official called Ewua or a priest of the Benin are found in the waters of Benin but can also live on creator god, Osanabua. Both are associated with the dry land. Their whiskers, which are similar to those of a origin of the present Benin dynasty, which began cacatfisht , are represented by L-shaped projections from about A.D. 1300. This figural motif with its references the sides of the head. Mudfish are associated with to the past is used to reaffirm the ancestral legacy of bobotth the Oba and Olokun, the god of the sea and succeeding Obas and their legitimacy to rule. spispirituai l counterpart to the Oba, ruler of the land. Figures to the left and right of the cross-wearing OlOlokuo n is thought to be the provider of wealth and figure are similar to the topmost figure on the tusk ferfertilityt . Because the mudfish lives on the land and in and were used in the early eighteenth century to the water, it symbolizes the Oba as mediator between depict a foreign merchant with long hair and the world of man (land) and the spiritual world of European-style clothes. The meaning of this figure OlOlokuo n (water). Because some species of mudfish give gradually changed, and by the nineteenth century it an electricai l shock when threatened, mudfish also was used to indicate a priest. The slanted eyes refer rerepresenp t the Oba's power over his enemies. The to the closed lids of a priest in prayer, and the crossed dedepictiop n of a coiled mudfish, as seen on the far right, arms represent a ritual position taken by a priest in particulap r refers to the Oba's power to cast a curse during prayer. The costume is now interpreted as a ththaa t only he can release. charm-covered garment that provides spiritual IIin this row are two crocodile heads. They too are protection, and the spot on the forehead represents sysymboln s of Olokun, the god of the sea.

Border pattern The love of dense, richly textured patterns is typical of others, which they use to decorate the surfaces of Benin art. Benin craftsmen create complex patterns ivory, brass, and wood. of beadwork, basketweave, stripes, and leaves, among