Catalogue
Inventory no. [ObjInventarNrS]
8134
Institution
Weltkulturen Museum Frankfurt am Main
Edo designations
English designations
Relief Plaque
Categories
Palace Architecture & Ornamentation
Location
Schaumainkai 29-37, 60594 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Relief Plaque
Relief Plaque

Iconographies

1 annotations
Ẹkpẹn
Leopard

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
Ẹkpẹn

Provenance

4 events
Production
1504 (approximate) to 1550 (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
February 22, 1897 (day approximate) to 1907
The object is known to have come into contact with Ernst Lippert.
Purchase
1907
The object was purchased by the Weltkulturen Museum Frankfurt am Main from Ernst Lippert with its destination in Frankfurt.

Related archival documents

1 documents
See all
An archival document representing a Accession Records of 1 page(s)
Accession RecordInventory
Weltkulturen Museum Frankfurt am Main
Inventory book WKM FFM

Institution data

Weltkulturen Museum Frankfurt am Main
The data was transferred directly by the institution.
Last updated: 2021-04-20
Language: english
Institution fieldValue
Inventory no. [ObjInventarNrS]
object id
8134
Object designation [ObjTitelOriginalS]
designation
object type
Plaque. house ornament
Description [ObjReserve02M]
description
08134. 2 leopard heads. "Symbol of unlimited royal power in Benin." (Fagg) PUBL Luschan 1919: I, 267f Struck 1923 in: ZfE, 161 Vatter Ernst: Religiöse Plastik der Naturvölker. Ffm 1926: Abb. 31 und p. 178 Rachewiltz 1960: Afrikanische Kunst. Abb. 22 Fagg, William: Bildwerke aus Nigeria. 1963. Tfl. 43 Plastik der Afrikaner. Abb. 32
Mat./Technique [ObjTechMatM]
material
Yellow cast iron; brass with high zinc content, very low tin content, slightly elevated lead content and elevated trace element concentrations.
Dimensions [ObjMasse1S]
dimensions
L 44
Dating [ObjDatierungS]
date made
Year from [ObjJahrVonL]
date made
Year until [ObjJahrBisL]
date made
Geographical reference [ObjGeografieS]
production place
Kingdom of Benin (Africa->West Africa->Nigeria)
Name sorting [KueSortierungS_0]
prior source
Lippert Ernst
Name sorting [KueSortierungS_1]
prior source
First Name 2 [KueVorNameS_1]
provenance
First name [KueVorNameS_0]
provenance
Ernst
Function collector 2 [OkuFunktionS_1]
provenance
Function collector [OkuFunktionS_0]
provenance
Collector
Inventory note [ObjFeld07M]
provenance
Last Name 2 [KueNameS_1]
provenance
Last name [KueNameS_0]
provenance
Lippert
Date of acquisition[ObjFeld04M]
accession date
1907
Acquisition type [ObjFeld02M]
accession method
Comemnts[ObjCreditlineM]
notes
Postcard 1975
Exhibition
exhibition history
Being Object. Being Art. Meisterwerke aus den Sammlungen des Museums der Weltkulturen Haupthaus(Masterpieces from the collections of the Museum of World Cultures Main Building) MdW 31.10.2009 - 31.10.2010; Labor: Green Room. Scharf belichtet, Royal College of Arts 22.04.2013 - 09.05.2013
Literature
bibliography
Fagg, William, Bildwerke aus Nigeria, München: Prestel-Verlag 1963 - 190 ; Being Object. Being Art. Meisterwerke aus den Sammlungen des Museums der Weltkulturen Frankfurt am Main. hrsg. von Achim Sibeth, Tübingen, Berlin, Ernst Wasmuth Verlag, 2009. Plastik der Afrikaner, Frankfurt am Main, Museum für Völkerkunde 1968 - 39 S. ; Rachewiltz, Boris de, Afrikanische Kunst, Zürich [u.a.], Artemis Verlag 1960 - 243 S; Vatter, Ernst, Religiöse Plastik der Naturvölker, Leipzig: Frankfurter Verlagsanstalt 1926 - 194
Type [ObjSystematikS]
Part (Building)
Type of ownership [ObjFeld01M]
Type of person 2 [KueTypS_1]
Type of person [KueTypS_0]
Person
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

Info
About
Other