ID
212270
Edo designations
English designations
Relief Plaque
Categories
Palace Architecture & Ornamentation
Location
1 Adesogbe (Plymouth) Road, P.M.B. 1115, Benin City , Edo State
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Relief Plaque
Relief Plaque
Relief Plaque
Relief Plaque
Relief Plaque
Relief Plaque
Relief Plaque
Relief Plaque

Iconographies

2 annotations
Owẹn iba ẹdẹ ku
Rosette - 'The Sun Never Misses a Day'

This rosette design, usually found in the corners of Ama-Ẹrọnmwọn (bronze relief plaques), is one of two motifs representing the sun and one of a number of motifs in Edo art that are also connected with Olokun. The association between the sun and Olokun refers to the way in which the sun descends into the sea each day—hence the proverb ‘the sun never misses a day’—and the sea is where the deity Olokun lives ( ).

1 annotation
Owẹn iba ẹdẹ ku
Water fern
Ebe Amẹ
Water Fern

Ebe Amẹ refers to a wide variety of plants, particularly the leaves of the water fern or river leaf, found in riverine areas of southern Nigeria ( ). Artists from the Igun-Ẹrọnmwọn used these as a decorative motif in the background of most Ama-Ẹrọnmwọn (bronze relief plaques). The petals of the Ebe Amẹ, like the points of the ἀghàdàgháda (crossroads), represent the four cardinal directions: north, east, south, and west. The number four plays a foundational role in the Edo calendar, which is structured around four market days ( ).

1 annotation
Ebe Amẹ

Provenance

5 events
Production
1504 (approximate) to 1550 (approximate)
The object was produced by Unknown member(s) of the Igun-Ẹrọnmwọn guild in Benin City.
Looted
February 22, 1897 (day approximate) to June 1899 (year approximate)
The object was looted by February 1897 Unknown member of the British colonial military campaign on Benin from Benin Kingdom.
Unknown
February 22, 1897 (day approximate) to 1899
The object is known to have come into contact with William Downing Webster, later in Bicester.
Purchase
1899
The object was purchased by the Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin from William Downing Webster from Bicester to Berlin.
Restitution
August 25, 2022
The object was restituted by the Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin to the Omo n'Oba n'Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Ọba of Benin & National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria through Hermann Parzinger and Abba Isa Tijani from Berlin to Nigeria.

Related archival documents

1 documents
See all
Date

Institution data

Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
The data was transferred directly by the institution.
Last updated: 2021-06-14
Language: german
Institution fieldValue
ID
object id
212270
Sachbegriff
designation
Sachbegriff: Reliefplatte
Titel
designation
Titel: Portugiese
Objektref.
description
E 547/1899, Erwerbung: I/123/1899: III C 9947-9960, Bronzen (Benin), Webster, 1899, William Downing Webster (1895); VIII A 10597, Positiv, SW, Reliefplatte, Walter Steinkopf (1957,1958, 1959, 1962/65 - 1985)
Texte Online
description
Online Beschreibung, [Benin_Königreich]
Material / Technik
material
Material: Messing; Ausgabe: Messing; Ausgabe (engl.): Brass
Material / Technik // Alle
material
Messing, Brass, Messing
Maße
dimensions
49,00 x 38,00 cm; 7,20 kg
Objekttyp
object type
Allgemein
Sachbegr. Ausgabe
object type
Reliefplatte (Relief plaque)
Anzahl Teile
object count
1
Datierung
date made
16. Jh.
Geogr. Bezüge
production place
Nigeria ( Land ); Benin ( Königreich )
Geogr. Bezüge // Alle
production place
Nigeria, Benin
Beteiligte
prior source
William Downing Webster (1895), Sammler
Beteiligte // (Name, Sortierung=kleinste)
prior source
Webster, William Downing
Veräußerer
prior source
null
Erwerb. Notiz
provenance
Notiz: Rückführung Wiesbaden; Ausgabe: 16. Jh., im Auftrag von Oba Esigie (reg. 1517-1550) oder seines Sohnes Oba Orhogbua (reg. 1550-1570), Königspalast, Benin-Stadt; durch Erbschaft an Oba Ovonramwen (ca. 1857-1914; reg. 1888-97), Königspalast, Benin-Stadt; geplündert im Zusammenhang mit der britischen Eroberung von Benin, 1897; Besitzer zwischen 1897 und 1899 derzeit unbekannt; erworben von William D. Webster durch das Königliche Museum für Völkerkunde Berlin, 1899.
Verw. Institution
department and institution
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Erwerb. Datum
accession date
1899
Besitzart
accession method
Eigentum
Erwerbungsart
accession method
Ankauf
Digital Assets
images
Vorlage; Vorlage; Vorlage; Vorlage; Vorlage; III C 9947 ZP.doc, Office; Vervielfältigung; Vervielfältigung; Vorlage; Vervielfältigung; Vorlage; Vervielfältigung; Vorlage; III C 9947.jpg, Repro Digitalisat; III C 9947-Rio.jpg, Vorlage; III C 9947 -B.JPG, Repro Digitalisat; III C 9947 -C.JPG, Repro Digitalisat; III C 9947 -D.JPG, Repro Digitalisat; III C 9947 -E.JPG, Repro Digitalisat; III C 9947 -F.JPG, Repro Digitalisat; III C 9947 -G.JPG, Repro Digitalisat
Erwerb. Nr.
I/123/1899
Ident. Nr.
III C 9947
Ident. Nr. // (Sortiernr.)
0003 C 09947
Obj. Status
vorhanden
Sensitive Content

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