Accession Number
ETH.CAM2.959
Edo designations
English designations
Male Figure
Categories
Figures
Location
Quex Park, Birchington-on-Sea CT7 0BH, United Kingdom
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Male Figure
Male Figure

Iconographies

1 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

Provenance

2 events
Commission
January 30, 1931
The object was commissioned by Unknown member(s) of the Igun-Ẹrọnmwọn guild from Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton through Alfred Holt and Company and Harry Maddocks in Benin City.
Donation
January 30, 1931 to 1932
The object was donated by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton to the Powell-Cotton Museum with its destination in Birchington-on-Sea.

Institution data

Powell-Cotton Museum
The data was transferred directly by the institution.
Last updated: 2021-11-03
Language: english
Institution fieldValue
Accession Number
object id
ETH.CAM2.959
Description
description
object type
Brass figure, small, well finished
Provenance Information
provenance
Purchased on 30/01/1931 in Benin City
Additional Notes
notes
See Diary entry for Percy Horace Powell-Cotton visit to Benin
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