Catalogue
Number
МАЭ № 595-32
Institution
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera)
Edo designations
English designations
Altar Tusk
Categories
Altar & Shrine Objects
Location
University Embankment, 3, St Petersburg, Russia, 199034

Provenance

4 events
Production
1750 (year uncertain/approximate) to February 22, 1897 (day approximate)
The object was produced by Unknown member(s) of the Igbesamwan 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 1900
The object is known to have come into contact with Hans Meyer, later in Leipzig.
Donation
1900
The object was donated by Hans Meyer to the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera) from Leipzig to Saint Petersburg.

Related archival documents

1 documents
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Date

Institution data

Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera)
The data was retrieved from the institution's website.
Last updated: 2021-02-19
Language: english
Institution fieldValue
Number
object id
МАЭ № 595-32
Title
designation
 Tusk of the royal altar
Annotation
description
The elephant tusks that once adorned the palace altars of Ancient Benin were inserted into the bronze heads of the royal ancestors, depicting a protrusion on the ruler's headdress. They were worshiped as the container of the spirit of the deceased kings. Ivory was considered a divine substance and embodied wealth, prosperity, longevity and peace. Its color symbolized ritual purity, therefore, before important ceremonies, the priests cleaned the tusks, washing off the blood of sacrificial animals with citrus juice. The tusks were covered with exquisite ornamentation and multi-figured scenes, each of which is unique. A tusk from the Kunstkamera collection depicts a solemn procession to the altar of the ancestors, during which sacrifices were made, and the ruler generously gifted his subjects.
Material
material
tusk
The size
dimensions
Arc length - 190.0; maximum diameter (at the base) - 13.6.
Date
date made
XIX century
Geographical localization of the place of creation
production place
Nigeria
Place of creation
production place
Nigeria
Collectors-person
prior source
Meyer Hans (22 March 1858 - 5 July 1929)
Ethnicity
ethnic attribution
edo
Publications
bibliography
Olderogge Dmitry Alekseevich Antiquities of Benin, II (uhuv-elao of Benin kings) // Collection of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography / otv. ed. S.P. Tolstov. - M .; L .: Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1955. - 461 p .: ill. - (Collection of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography; vol. 16) 1955 Olderogge Dmitry Alekseevich Antiquities of Benin (from the collections of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography) // Collection of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography / otv. ed. S.P. Tolstov. - M .; L .: Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1953 .-- 554 p .: ill. - (Collection of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography; vol. 15).
URL
weblink
https://collection.kunstkamera.ru/en/entity/OBJECT/14672
Albums
Great Benin
Collection
Ethnography of Africa
Keywords
peoples of africa, benue-congo, edo
Sensitive Content

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