ID
221722
Edo designations
English designations
Relief Plaque
Categories
Palace Architecture & Ornamentation
Location
1 Adesogbe (Plymouth) Road, P.M.B. 1115, Benin City , Edo State
Loading...
Relief Plaque
Relief Plaque
Relief Plaque
Relief Plaque

Iconographies

5 annotations
Round Neck Bead
Ikele
Coral bead circlet

Ikele is a single stiff string or circlet of coral beads. It is worn by chiefs, such as senior chiefs who have been made Enigie (Inneh 2007, p.107), and is a sign of nobility and rank. The Ikele may only be worn once the Ọba has conferred a person with the right to wear the beads, and the Ikele must always be worn when appearing before the Ọba. According to Ekhaguosa Aisien (in Plankensteiner 2007, cat. nr. 301, p.512) when a chief is wearing the Ikele, they may not eat nor drink in public, and they “constitute an embassy of the Benin Palace wherever he might be.”

1 annotation
Ikele
Ẹkpoki
Cylindrical Boxes

Ẹkpoki are cylindrical boxes made by members of the Isekpokin (guild of leather workers) from leather and bark. In the late 19th century, some were also crafted from brass sheet with rich embossed ornamentation. Members of the Igun Ẹronmwon (guild of brass casters) might have created examples from cast brass, although only a single example of this kind is known today (inventory no. 212729). Ẹkpoki are used by the Ọba to present gifts to chiefs, while chiefs use leather Ẹkpoki to send kola nuts and other traditional items to one another (Inneh 2007, pp. 109–110). Ẹkpoki also feature in important rituals such as Iguẹ, during which the Ọba is ceremonially presented with an Ẹkpoki (Blackmun in Plankensteiner 2007, cat. no. 74, p. 328), as well as Ugie-Ewere, during which the Ọba is presented with an Ẹkpoki that symbolically contains a gift from the Ooni of Ife (Plankensteiner 2007, cat. no. 83, p. 336). This refers to an oral tradition that, at the coronation, the Ooni of Ife sent certain regalia. Gifts presented in Ẹkpoki could also have carried symbolic messages.

1 annotation
Ẹkpoki
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
Abuwa
Hand of Wealth

Abuwa ornaments are made from red ododo cloth and are a symbol of wealth (Inneh 2007, pp. 110–111). ‘Abuwa’ is understood to translate directly as “hand of wealth” (Ezra 1992, p. 313). The Abuwa is worn at the waist by high-ranking chiefs as part of their ‘pangolin skin’ ceremonial regalia (Inneh 2007, p. 110) and continues to be worn today.

1 annotation
Abuwa
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

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.
Auction
1899
The object was auctioned to William Downing Webster through Stevens Auction Rooms in London.
Purchase
1906
The object was purchased by the Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin from William Downing Webster in London.
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
221722
Sachbegriff
designation
Sachbegriff: Reliefplatte
Titel
designation
Titel: Diener mit ekpokin-Behälter
Objektref.
description
VIII A 10762, Positiv, SW, Reliefplatte, Bronze, Kurt Grunst (*04.04.1921); VIII A 12117, Positiv, SW, Rückseite der Bronzeplatte ""Mann mit Büchse"", Kurt Grunst (*04.04.1921); E 579/1906, Erwerbung: III/42/1906: III C 20830-31, Bronzeplatte, Elfenbein-Armband (Westafrika, Benin), Ankauf J.C.Stevens, 1906, J.C. Stevens (1899)
Texte Online
description
Online Beschreibung, Höfling mit ẹkpokin-Behälter zum Überreichen von Gaben an den König [Benin_Königreich]
Material / Technik
material
Material: Messing; Material (engl.): copper alloy; Technik: Guss; Technik (engl.): casting; Ausgabe: Messing; Guss; Ausgabe (engl.): Brass; copper alloy; casting
Material / Technik // Alle
material
Messing; Guss, Brass; copper alloy; casting, Messing, copper alloy, Guss, casting
Maße
dimensions
54,00 x 40,00 x 9,50 cm; 11,00 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
Benin, Nigeria
Beteiligte
prior source
J.C. Stevens (1899), Sammler
Beteiligte // (Name, Sortierung=kleinste)
prior source
Stevens, J.C.
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 1906 derzeit unbekannt; erworben von William D. Webster durch das Königliche Museum für Völkerkunde Berlin, 1906.
Verw. Institution
department and institution
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Erwerb. Datum
accession date
1906
Besitzart
accession method
Eigentum
Erwerbungsart
accession method
Ankauf
Digital Assets
images
Vorlage; Vorlage; Vorlage; III C 20830 ZP.doc, Office; Vervielfältigung; Vervielfältigung; Vervielfältigung; Vervielfältigung; Vervielfältigung; III C 20830-B.jpg, Repro Digitalisat; III C 20830.jpg, Repro Digitalisat; III C 20830-Rio.jpg, Vorlage; Vorlage
Erwerb. Nr.
III/42/1906
Ident. Nr.
III C 20830
Ident. Nr. // (Sortiernr.)
0003 C 20830
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