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Vessel

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Two snakes holding a human in their mouths form the handles of this vessel. On its neck are two courtiers holding a medicine horn and a staff and a dog on a lead; in between are depictions of snails. A skull and a tortoise can be seen on the lid. The man-devouring snakes are images of the king's power, while the tortoise and the dogs refer to Ogun, the god of war, to whom these animals are sacrificed.

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Cataloguing data

Object type
Vessel
Dimensions
Weight: 3,65 kg
Height: 25,5 cm
Depth: 18,5 cm
Width: 21 cm
Material/Technique
Brass, copper alloy, Iron, iron
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
III C 20300

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    where
    Benin [kingdom]
  • Production
    when
    18th cent.
    where
    Nigeria
    Benin
  • Collecting
    who
    Theodor Glücksmann - Former Possessors
  • Change of legal title:
    Acquisition
    Description
    18th century, commissioned by the Igun Eronmwon or Guild of Brass Casters in the Kingdom of Benin; probably looted in connection with the British conquest of Benin, 1897; possibly owned by Sir Ralph Moor until ca. 1905; probably auctioned at Stevens' Auction Rooms Ltd, London (J.C. Stevens) ca. 1905; gift of Theodor Glücksmann to the Royal Museum of Ethnology Berlin, 1905.
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    Africa

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED

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