sculpture
- Museum number
- Af1948,09.1
- Description
-
Sculpture, Osun head; lost-wax cast in brass. In form of human head surmounted by four birds; snakes eating frogs issue from eyes, nostrils and ears.
- Production date
- 18thC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 27.50 centimetres
-
Weight: 3.60 kilograms
-
Width: 14 centimetres
-
Depth: 17 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Brass head used in the worship of Osun, whose power lies in forests leaves and roots utilised by the herbalists and priests to cure, protect, and also to destroy. The head is representative of Benin eighteenth-century iconography in a historical context when the Obas (kings) were seeking to emphasise their legitimacy and to strengthen the kinship after a period of strong internal turmoils. The symbolism of thee creatures represented refers to the mystical and magical aspects of the kingship and to the occult powers of the king. The four birds on the head are similar to those depicted on the top of the palace. They are associated with the night and the bush and evoke protective and prophetic powers. They are standing on the lid of a pot referring to medicine pots. Snakes emerging from the nostrils are believed to be Osun's warriors and suggest the occult powers of the Oba when he wishes to destroy his enemies. The thunder-stones on the forehead are associated with lightning and its destructive powers.
P. Girshick Ben-Amos, The art of Benin (London, The British Museum Press, 1995)
S. Preston Blier, Royal Arts of Africa (London, Laurance King Publishing, 1998)
P. Girshick Ben-Amos, Art, Innovation, and Politics in eighteenth-century Benin (Indiana University Press, 1999)
- Location
- On display (G25/dc6)
- Exhibition history
-
1970-1973, London, Museum of Mankind, Divine Kingship in Africa
1991 Feb-Apr, Norwich, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Man and Metal in Ancient Nigeria
- Associated events
- Associated Event: British Expedition to Benin City Feb 1897
- Acquisition date
- 1948
- Acquisition notes
- Lot 235 in Sotheby's sale on 13 April 1948.
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Af1948,09.1
