The Kingdom of Benin, of the Edo people, grew powerful in what is now southern Nigeria (not the modern country of Benin). Its capital, Benin City, was ruled by a divine king, the Oba. You met its early art in Art History I. From the 1500s on, its artists made some of the most famous works of African art for the royal palace.
The so-called Benin Bronzes are mostly of brass (copper alloyed with zinc), plus works in ivory and wood. A royal guild of brass casters, the Igun Eronmwon, worked only for the Oba, using the lost-wax method: a model is made in wax over a clay core, covered in clay, heated so the wax melts out, and filled with molten metal. They made memorial heads of past Obas for royal altars, and hundreds of rectangular plaques, nailed to the wooden pillars of the palace, showing the Oba, warriors, court officials, ceremonies and Portuguese traders, who arrived in the 1480s and traded the brass.
Key idea
Looking closely: a Queen Mother pendant mask
Describe. A small ivory face, about the size of a hand, with calm, wide eyes, two inlaid iron strips on the forehead, and a tall openwork crown of tiny bearded heads. Analyze. The face is smooth and idealized; the dark inlaid iron on the forehead and eyes stands out against the pale ivory. The tiny bearded heads in the crown represent Portuguese traders, linked to the sea, to wealth and to Olokun, god of the waters. Interpret. The mask is believed to show Idia, the mother of Oba Esigie, who ruled in the early 1500s; she was the first to hold the title of Queen Mother (Iyoba) and was honored for her role in her son's victories. The Oba wore such pendants at his hip in ceremonies. Ivory, white like the clay used in rituals, was a royal material.
Why it works
1897 and today
In 1897, after a British party traveling to Benin City was attacked and most of its members killed, a British military expedition captured the city, burned much of the palace and took thousands of works of brass, ivory and wood. Many were sold to cover the costs, and they are now in museums in Europe, North America and elsewhere, including the British Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Common mistake
Worked example: Bronze or brass?
- Bronze is copper with tin; brass is copper with zinc.
- Most "Benin Bronzes" are in fact brass.
- "Bronze" became the common name for the whole group, including some ivory and wood pieces.
Answer: It is brass; "Benin Bronzes" is the traditional name for the group.