Oro

Headdress/crown with single projection
Description

Figures wearing a headdress with a single protrusion from the crown of the head, known as the Oro, are found only among the Ọba and a select category of palace dignitaries whose ancestors originated in ancient Ile Ife ( ; Ọbazee 2025, p. 407). Only the Osa and Osuan, custodians of the Uwen and Ora deities, as well as members of the Emuru, who are responsible for the care of Iru vessels, may wear a headdress with the Oro. The identification of different figures is therefore interpreted based on the combination of the Oro with other items of regalia. Artists in the Igun-Ẹrọnmwọn and Igbesamwan depicted figures with the Oro on Ama-Ẹrọnmwọn (bronze relief plaques) and Aken'ni Elao (carved tusks), respectively. The Oro would either be made of coral beads as part of the crown or headdress, or be woven from itoto fibre ( ).

Objects with Oro

107 objects
See all
Institution
Harewood House Trust
HHTS.2006.16
Edo designations
-
Pendant Plaque
Institution
Buffalo Museum of Sciences
OBJECTID
C14885
Edo designations
-
Pendant Plaque
Institution
Detroit Institute of Arts
Accession number
72.435
Edo designations
-
Fragment
Institution
American Museum of Natural History
Ref. #
EB2
Edo designations
Okpia
Altar Tusk
Institution
American Museum of Natural History
Ref. #
EB34
Edo designations
Aken'ni Elao
Altar Tableau
Institution
Omo n'Oba n'Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Ọba of Benin & National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria
ID
209795
Edo designations
Urhotọ
Restituted
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