Cock | Photographer: Martin Franken
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Cock
Sculptures of roosters stood on the altars of the king and the queen mother. Roosters were common offerings in Benin. At the same time, they also symbolised the role of the mother of the heir to the throne (Edaiken). "The cock that crows the loudest" was a designation of the king's main wife, the mother of the heir to the throne and the potential queen mother. The influence of these women on Benin's politics is thus given an image in the rooster that emphasises their position of power.
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Ethnologisches Museum
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Cataloguing data
Object type
Plastic
Dimensions
Objektmaß: 45 x 46 x 19 cm
Gewicht: 13,9 kg
Gewicht: 13,9 kg
Material/Technique
Brass
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
III C 8085
Provenance and sources
where
Benin [kingdom]
when
18th cent.
where
Nigeria [Land]
who
Eduard Schmidt - Collectors
Description
18th century, commissioned by the Igun Eronmwon or guild of brass casters in the Kingdom of Benin; ownership before 1897 currently unknown; looted in connection with the British conquest of Benin, 1897; in unknown possession after the conquest of the Kingdom of Benin; collected by Consul Eduard Schmidt, employee of the Woermann line, between 1897 and 1898 in the territory of later colonial Nigeria; sold to the Königliches Museum für Völkerkunde in Berlin, 1898.
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