Iconographies

1 annotations

Odigba

Coral beaded collar

See Odigba page

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

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 Unknown member of the British colonial military campaign on Benin - February 1897 from Benin Kingdom.

Purchase

February 22, 1897 (day approximate) to December 31, 1897

The object was purchased by William & Annie Pilkington with its destination in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Inheritance

February 22, 1897 (day approximate) to 1987

The object was inherited by Pilkington heirs from William & Annie Pilkington.

Purchase

1987

The object was purchased by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art from Pilkington heirs with its destination in Kansas City.

Institution data

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

The data was transferred directly from the institution.

Last updated: 2021-08-05

Language: english

Institution field	Value
Object number object id	87-7
Medium material	Brass
Dimensions: dimensions	9 1/8 inches (23.18 cm)
Title object type	Commemorative Head of an Oba (King)
Credit Line prior source	Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust through the generosity of Donald J. and Adele C. Hall, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Robert Sutherland, and an anonymous donor; The Nelson Gallery Foundation; and the exchange of a Trust property
Provenance provenance	Kingdom of Benin, 16th century-1897; Purchased from British troops returning from Benin in Las Palmas, Tenerife, Canary Islands, by William (d. 1928) and Annie (d. 1910) Pilkington, Birmingham, England, 1897; By descent through the Pilkington family, 1897-1987; Purchased from the Pilkington heirs, through L & R Entwistle and Co., Ltd., London, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1987.
Culture ethnic attribution	Benin Kingdom
Exhibition History exhibition history	The Power of Bronze: Royal Sculpture from the Kingdom of Benin, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY, November 21, 2004-February 13, 2005, no. 3.
Published References bibliography	Ross E. Taggart, George L. McKenna and Marc F. Wilson, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. 2, Art of the Orient, 5th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 240-41, (repro.). Calendar of Events (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art) March 1988: 1, 2, (repro). Ellen R. Goheen, The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988), 230-31, (repro.). Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 84, (repro.). Joyce M. Youmans, “African Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,” African Arts 33, no. 4 (Winter 2000), 43, 48, (repro.). Marie-Thérèse Brincard, ed., The Power of Bronze: Royal Sculpture from the Kingdom of Benin, exh. cat. (Purchase, NY: Neuberger Museum of Art, 2004), 16, (repro.). Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 243, 245, (repro.).
Nelson-Atkins Online Collection Database	https://art.nelson-atkins.org/objects/5340/commemorative-head-of-an-oba-king?ctx=c407236a-f947-4423-b813-3f1dfb6d5e82&idx=1

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

The data was retrieved from the institution's website.

Last updated: 2021-08-16

Language: english

Institution field	Value
Object number object id	87-7
Description description	Benin bronze head
Gallery Label description	Commemorative Head of an Oba Nigeria, Benin Kingdom 16th century Brass This masterfully cast, commemorative image of a divine king's spiritual head displays the ornate, red coral-bead headdress of Benin kingship. Symbolizing wisdom and achievement, the head originally rested on an altar dedicated to ritual communication with this ancestral ruler. There it would have supported an ivory tusk of sacred white carved with images of royal history and court ritual. In the past, the brass was polished to a high "red" sheen evocative of beauty and fearsome power. The irises and parallel lines between the brows of inlaid, locally forged iron invested this image with iron deity Ogun's mystical, transformative powers of creation and destruction. Purchase: Nelson Trust through the generosity of Donald J. and Adele C. Hall, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Robert Sutherland, and an anonymous donor; The Nelson Gallery Foundation; and the exchange of a Trust property, 87-7
Medium material	Brass
Dimensions: dimensions	9 1/8 inches (23.18 cm)
Title object type	Commemorative Head of an Oba (King)
Object Date date made	16th century
Credit Line prior source	Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust through the generosity of Donald J. and Adele C. Hall, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Robert Sutherland, and an anonymous donor; The Nelson Gallery Foundation; and the exchange of a Trust property
Culture ethnic attribution	Benin Kingdom
Exhibition History exhibition history	The Power of Bronze: Royal Sculpture from the Kingdom of Benin, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY, November 21, 2004-February 13, 2005, no. 3.
Status display status	On View
Published References bibliography	Ross E. Taggart, George L. McKenna and Marc F. Wilson, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. 2, Art of the Orient, 5th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 240-41, (repro.). Calendar of Events (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art) March 1988: 1, 2, (repro). Ellen R. Goheen, The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988), 230-31, (repro.). Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 84, (repro.). Joyce M. Youmans, “African Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,” African Arts 33, no. 4 (Winter 2000), 43, 48, (repro.). Marie-Thérèse Brincard, ed., The Power of Bronze: Royal Sculpture from the Kingdom of Benin, exh. cat. (Purchase, NY: Neuberger Museum of Art, 2004), 16, (repro.). Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 243, 245, (repro.).
Former Title

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