ID
212420
English designations
Pendant Plaque
Categories
Ceremonial Regalia
Location
1 Adesogbe (Plymouth) Road, P.M.B. 1115, Benin City , Edo State
Loading...
Pendant Plaque
Pendant Plaque

Iconographies

3 annotations
Oro
Headdress/crown with single projection

Figures wearing a headdress with a single protrusion from the crown of the head, known as the Oro, are found only among the Ọba and a select category of palace dignitaries whose ancestors originated in ancient Ile Ife ( ; Ọbazee 2025, p. 407). Only the Osa and Osuan, custodians of the Uwen and Ora deities, as well as members of the Emuru, who are responsible for the care of Iru vessels, may wear a headdress with the Oro. The identification of different figures is therefore interpreted based on the combination of the Oro with other items of regalia. Artists in the Igun-Ẹrọnmwọn and Igbesamwan depicted figures with the Oro on Ama-Ẹrọnmwọn (bronze relief plaques) and Aken'ni Elao (carved tusks), respectively. The Oro would either be made of coral beads as part of the crown or headdress, or be woven from itoto fibre ( ).

1 annotation
Oro
Ẹkpẹn
Leopard

The Ẹkpẹn (leopard) is an animal that appears most often among the motifs decorating the Emwin Arhe (royal treasures). The Ẹkpẹn symbolises the valour and strength of the Ọba, as well as his political authority. The Benin people eulogise the Ọba as the ‘ẹkpẹn n'owa’ (leopard of the home).

When a hunter kills a leopard, he must say “ẹkpẹn n'oha” (I killed a bush leopard), as it is taboo to say that a hunter killed a leopard without specifying that it is a bush leopard, as otherwise this would “be tantamount to symbolically killing the king” (Nevadomsky 1988, p. 81). For this reason, leopards of the bush are called Atalakpa to distinguish them from those that represent the Ọba.

1 annotation
Ẹkpẹn
Colar Bead
Odigba
Coral beaded collar

Odigba (coral-beaded collar) is a rigid neck collar made of coral beads, worn as part of ceremonial attire only by senior princes who have been made Enigie (Inneh 2007, p. 107). Although Ibafe (2007, p. 43) argued that the Odigba was introduced during the Ogiso period (c. 900–c. 1170 AD) by Ogiso Ere, along with other symbolically important Emwin Arhe, such as the Ada (ceremonial sword) and the Ẹbẹn (ceremonial sword), this seems unlikely, as coral was only introduced in the late 15th century through trade with Portuguese merchants.

1 annotation
Odigba

Provenance

5 events
Production
unknown to February 22, 1897 (day 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 1901
The object is known to have come into contact with William Downing Webster, later in Bicester.
Purchase
1901
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

2 documents
See all
Date
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
212420
Sachbegriff
designation
Sachbegriff: Anhänger; Sachbegriff: Anhänger für den Gürtel
Titel
designation
Titel: König mit zwei stützenden Begleitfiguren
Objektref.
description
E 198/1901, Erwerbung: I/56/1901: III C 12513-12533, Ethnogr. (Benin), Ankauf Webster, 1901, William Downing Webster (1895); III C 12518, Bronzerelief
Texte Online
description
Online Beschreibung, [Benin_Königreich]
Material / Technik
material
Material: Messing; Ausgabe: Messing
Material / Technik // Alle
material
Messing, Messing
Maße
dimensions
13,50 x 8,00 x 1,50 cm; 195,60 g
Objekttyp
object type
Allgemein
Sachbegr. Ausgabe
object type
Anhänger
Anzahl Teile
object count
1
Datierung
date made
18. Jh.-19. Jh.
Geogr. Bezüge
production place
Nigeria ( Land ); Benin ( Königreich )
Geogr. Bezüge // Alle
production place
Benin, Nigeria
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 Leipzig; Ausgabe: 18. Jh. - 19. Jh., Auftragsarbeit der Igun Eronmwon oder Gilde der Messinggießer im Königreich Benin; Besitz vor 1897 derzeit unbekannt; vermutlich geplündert im Zusammenhang mit der britischen Eroberung von Benin, 1897; in unbekanntem Besitz nach der Eroberung des Königreichs Benin; erworben von William D. Webster durch das Museum für Völkerkunde Berlin, 1901.
Verw. Institution
department and institution
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Erwerb. Datum
accession date
1901
Besitzart
accession method
Erwerbungsart
accession method
Ankauf
Digital Assets
images
III C 12518.jpg, Repro Digitalisat; III C 12518.JPG, Repro Digitalisat
Erwerb. Nr.
I/56/1901
Ident. Nr.
III C 12518
Ident. Nr. // (Sortiernr.)
0003 C 12518
Obj. Status
vorhanden
Sensitive Content

Digital Benin collates digital material from institutions, and some of this material is inherently colonial and contains words, terms and phrases that are inaccurate, derogatory and harmful towards African and African diasporic communities. Catalogue transcriptions, book titles, exhibition titles and museum titles may contain harmful terms. We recognise the potential for the material to cause physical and mental distress as well as evoke strong emotions. Owing to the scale of the collection’s data, a process to implement sensitive-content warnings in the displayed data is still incomplete. The material within the catalogue does not represent Digital Benin’s views. Digital Benin maintains a strong anti-colonial, anti-racist position and affirms its support for centring the humanity of historically marginalised and disenfranchised communities. Read more about the background of this statement here