Iconographies

1 annotations

Ẹkpẹn

Leopard

See Ẹkpẹn page

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

Provenance

3 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.

Unknown

unknown to 2022

The object is known to have come into contact with Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich, later in Zurich.

Institution data

Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich

The data was transferred directly through the Swiss Benin Initiative.

Last updated: 2022-07-04

Language: english

Institution field	Value
Reg No. object id	08886
Object name and materials designation	arm bracelet
Material material	metal alloy
Dimension/s dimensions	not verified
Provisional dating date made	unknown
Creditline prior source	unknown
Provenances provenance	Unknown date of production, possibly in Benin City or surrounding provinces; [...]; unknown date, Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich
Institution department and institution	VMZ Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich
Institution acquisition date accession date	unknown

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