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Memorial head of a dignitary

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Like the kings, dignitaries and village chiefs also erected memorial altars to their deceased predecessors. Ritual sacrifices at these altars strengthened the relationship between the living and their ancestors. The furnishings of the altars are comparable to those of the royal memorial altars. The decisive difference lies in the use of certain materials that were an expression of Benin's hierarchical society. Brass for memorial heads and altar figures or ivory were, with a few exceptions, reserved for the king. On the memorial altars of people of lower rank were memorial heads made of wood, some of which were covered with thin sheet brass as an expression of special privilege on the part of the king.

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Data Provider
Ethnologisches Museum Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Object type
Sculpture
Dimensions
Height: 63 cm
Width: 30 cm
Depth: 30 cm
Weight: 7,8 kg
Material/Technique
Wood, Metal , Patina
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
III C 39822

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    where
    Benin [kingdom]
  • Production
    when
    19th century
    where
    Nigeria
    Benin
  • Collecting
    who
    Arthur Speyer (1922 - 2007) - Collectors
  • Change of legal title:
    Acquisition
    Description
    19th century, commissioned in the Kingdom of Benin; ownership before 1897 currently unknown; probably looted in connection with the British conquest of Benin, 1897; in unknown ownership after Feb. 1897; acquired by Arthur Speyer, 1962.
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    Africa

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED

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