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Memorial head: Queen Mother

This ancestor head was cast in memory of a deceased queen mother. She can be recognized by the typical conical braid hairstyle covered by a beaded cap. On the forehead there are raised decorative scars, as well as a large pearl, which refers to the proverb: "You can never touch the forehead of a leopard". After 1550, these ancestor heads show less and less individual facial features, but are more to be understood as an idealized portrait with status symbols and insignia of rulership. The mother of the reigning king represented an important counterweight to his power. She resided in her own palace, administered her own province, spoke up for petitioners, and could also grant political asylum. Text: Dietmar Neitzke.

Data Provider
Linden-Museum Stuttgart Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde
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Cataloguing data

Cultural attribution
Edo
Object type
Plastik
Dimensions
Durchmesser: 33 cm, Höhe: 58 cm
Material/Technique
Copper alloy
Lost wax process
Current location
Linden-Museum Stuttgart
Inventory number
005373

Provenance and sources

where
Nigeria

when
1899
Provenance
In October 1898, the Hamburg company "H. Bey & Co" offered the Berlin Ethnological Museum a Benin collection that came directly from Africa. However, due to a lack of funds, the entire collection could not be purchased and was therefore to be passed on to other interested parties. Felix von Luschan of the Berlin Museum therefore informed Karl Graf von Linden in November 1898, and offered him a right of first refusal. The Linden Museum then made 15,000 M available for the purchase of objects. The purchase price was paid by the Heilbronn entrepreneur Karl Knorr, which is why the collection became known as "Die Karl Knorr'sche Sammlung von Benin-Altertümern". Von Luschan published a detailed description of the collection under the same title (1901) on behalf of Count Linden and Knorr. Other buyers of the collection included the museums in Vienna and Munich, but also people such as Hans Meyer (Leipzig) and Eugen Rautenstrauch (Cologne). Text: Markus Himmelsbach.

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