African Art and the kingdom of Benin..

Fortunately, when dealing with the artwork of Benin, there is a fair amount of oral tradition, and from the late 15th century, European documentation from which to draw information from. It is believed that present dynasty Benin came to be established from Ife.

Traditions record that when an Oba (King) died, his head would be sent to Ife for burial, and in return they would send back a bronze casting of his head to be placed on his ancestral shrine. It is believed that somewhere around the end of the fourteenth century, the Oba sent for a bronze-smith from Ife, to teach his people how to make these heads themselves. The traditions record that Obas from previous dynasties had encouraged the crafts of wood carving and ivory carving, but not bronze casting. The man sent is said to have been named Igueghae (an altar was later set up in Benin in memory of Igueghae). The earliest Benin heads are different from those of Ife, as they already had established their own stylistic art traditions, that were carried over when the bronze casting technique was introduced.

For simplicity, Benin art is generally divided into 3 periods, the early, middle and late period. The early period was the when the initial heads were cast, believed to be from the end of the 14th century to the middle of the 16th century. The middle period is generally believed to be when the production of the wall plaques began, this time period, through recorded tradition is believed to be in the early 16th century. The palace wall plaques are believed to has ceased being produced sometime before 1700. The late period therefore refers to the period from the late 17th century to 1897 when the Oba of Benin was exiled and casting ceased for a time.

The art of Benin is without a doubt predominantly a royal art. The craftsmen were organized into guilds and had to live together in the same quarter of the town. Apart from smaller items of adornment, such as the hip masks for the chief ceremonial dress, no bronze casting could be commissioned by anyone except the Oba, unless his express consent was given. Another right of the Oba was his right to ivory, and any hunter that acquired ivory while hunting had to give half of his ivory to the Oba, who in turn passed many of these pieces over to the ivory carvers.

In the early 16th century, it was under the rule of Oba Esigie that the Queen Mother title was introduced, and so it is known that the Queen mother heads could not have been produced before this time. Another date related variation in the Benin castings, was the introduction of a crown with upswept projections that was introduced by Oba Osewede who ruled from 1816 - 1848, thus the bronze heads in this style could not have been produced prior to his reign.

The Palace of Benin that occupys about half of Benin City, as wooden columns for roof supports. These wooden columns were decorated with the rectangular bronze plaques, many of which depicted life at court in the Benin palace. The holes through these plaques show where they were nailed to the columns. It is usual for the two edges of the plaque to be folded around the rectangular timber roof supports. These plaques are dated from the early 16th century into through the 17th century. Many of the plaques show European traders in the costume of that period, and according to oral tradition, it is after the Portuguese assisted the people of Benin on an expedition against an enemy early in the 16th century, that it was suggested that their success be commemorated in the same way Europeans commemorate such events. The rectangular form of the plaques may be based on the pages in illustrated books of the Europeans, as this form is not usually found in traditional African sculpture.

The plaque show from low relief to high relief which shows evidence of te evolution of the casters and the great technical skill the were able to achieve. Other plaques show warrior chiefs surrounded by supporting figures that were much smaller, this is a good representation of the social perspective of the group, the supporters were much smaller in stature because they were less important socially than the warrior chief. The plaques used a quatrefoil motif in a stippled groundas a background.

The artwork of Benin first became known to western viewers in 1897 as a result of a British military expedition. Thousands of art works, once housed in the royal palace and used in service of the divine kingship, were confiscated and eventually dispersed to museums and private collections throughout the world. Despite the great loss and destruction that these events caused, the art of Benin is not extinct. The events leading to the British invasion were due to a British officer wanting to visit the king in Benin city in January of 1897, the king was offering sacrifices to his ancestors at this time, and the British officer was warned by chiefs to stay away and return later as a visit as this time would be deemed inauspicious. The British officer however pressed on and as he neared Benin city, he and most of his party was ambushed and killed. The British navy quickly retaliated in an attack that was to become known as the British Punitive Expedition, which destroyed or burned most of the palace and city, looted and exported thousands of objects of art and exiled the King. In 1914 the Kin's son was permitted to restore monarchy and start the rebuilding process of the palace. The art was however never returned.

The kingdom of Benin is located in southern Nigeria, with the majority if the kingdom's people being known as Edo, a name also given to their language. Benins borders also have the Igbo, Ijaw, Yoruba and Itsekiri living within its limits. Benin city is home to over 160,000 people and has always been regarded as the administrative and religious center of the kingdom. Within this city, ones status is determined by his achievements, particularly being granted important titles within the government, not an easy task, as the political system is complex and not easy to manipulate.

Oba Heads - Possibly the most well known art of the Benin Kingdon is it's lost wax bronzing and in particular the heads of Kings (Oba's) and Queen Mother's Heads which were made as altar pieces. Most Benin castings were made of brass, which ia an alloy of copper and zinc with varying amounts of other elements. A few castings, especially in the early period, were made in bronze the copper and tin. It is believed that the cast brass heads were introduced for royal ancestors in the late fourteenth century under the reign of Oba Oguola, the fifth king or Oba. Pre 1897, the cast heads were placed on an altar dedicated to the past Oba's of benin, while the terracotta and wood were placed on the ancestral shrines of brasscasters and chiefs respectively. It was one of the first ritual duties undertaken by a new Oba, to commission brasscasters and Ivory carvers to create objects to decorate an altar commemorating his late father. This altar had a dual purpose, one it was a tribute to the achievements of the deceased fatehr and two, a point of contact to the spirit. The royal altars would normally have brass Oba heads which would support a carved ivory tusk, a aseberia or altar tableau which depicts the Oba and his attendants and rattle staffs ro ukhurhe which were shaken to call the spirits, and brass bells also used to call the ancestral spirits.

Queen Mother Heads - Altars were also constructed, dedicated to past Iyobas, or queen mothers. Like the Oba altars, the altars for queen mothers were also adorned with brass commemorative heads. The title of iyoba and queen mother commemorative heads was started in the early sixteenth century by Oba Esigie to honor his mother Idia, who assisted in averting two serious threats to his rule and the integrity of the Benin Kingdom.

African Art and the Benin Kingdom