Iconographies

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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

6 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 1900

The object was purchased by Augustus Henry Pitt-Rivers (Lane Fox) and Farnham Pitt-Rivers Museum with its destination in Farnham.

Unknown

1949 (approximate) to 1966

The object is known to have come into contact with Kenneth John Hewett, later in London.

Purchase

1966

The object was purchased by Lisa & Robert Sainsbury from Kenneth John Hewett from London to Great Britain.

Donation

1976

The object was donated by Lisa & Robert Sainsbury to the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts from Great Britain to Norwich.

Institution data

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

The data was transferred directly by the institution.

Last updated: 2021-08-02

Language: english

Institution field	Value
object_number object id	232
title designation object type	Head of an Oba
description description	Head of an Oba. West Africa, Nigeria: Benin. Early period, early 16th century. Brass, iron. h. 23.0 cm. Acquired 1966. Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection. UEA 232
free_field.content description	JA4599JA 4596JA 4598JA 4600MH-232Polaroids in cons file232a1232a2232b1This hollow head has been thinly cast using the lost was process (cire perdue). It sits on a neck ring and shows braided and beaded hair with a woven headdress. The face displays extremely smooth skin. The mouth is partially open and the eyes have iron inserts. There is a small dent in the back of the head. (VADS Helen Coleman) This is one of some eight or ten heads of this form which may well represent the pinnacle of Benin artistic achievement, matching or surpassing, for the most discerning judges, the early Queen Mother heads, which are the closest relatives, and the superb ivory masks which are similarly thought to be contemporary with them (Fagg, 1963). Several hands have been at work among this group but all seem to match well enough for us to assume that they were all made for a single funeral. There were only two funerals in the first half of the sixteenth century at which the present day head may have been used- that of the warrior king Oba, performed by his son Esigye about 1505, and that of Esigye about 1551. Beside being a great warrior, Esigye was the founder of the practice of elevating the Oba's mother to the honour of Queen Mother; and the most natural explanation for the four early Queen Mother heads is that they were all made for Esigye's mother Idia, though it is not known whether this would have been on the occasion of her elevation or her death. It can be shown on a minute comparative examination of the Queen Mother heads, and of the male heads such as the present one, that all were probably made within a fairly short period of time. Although described as bronze, early Nigerian castings should more correctly be described as brasses; by the mid sixteenth century the Portuguese had imported vast quantities of European tin bronze, and Benin ancestor altar heads suddenly became much heavier. The thinness of this casting would date it to before this massive influx of bronze. From this concatenation of assorted facts a very strong presumption arises that these bronze heads were made in about 1505 to crown the tomb of Ozolua and that the Queen Mother heads were made some time during the following ten or twenty years. Ancestor altars were generally platforms some two to three feet high; the uhumwelao heads ( by means of a hole in the crown) also supports carved elephant tusks ( Fagg, 1970). Underwood (1949) was the first to draw attention to 'a fine appreciation of anatomy in the fusion of the separate forms of skull. Face and neck' in this head, considering this to be due to Ife influence (though even there this mark of supreme sculptural awareness is extremely rare). On the technical side, the iron inserts in the eyes (and perhaps in the upper lip) served a dual purpose of imparting realism and serving as anchor points to prevent displacement of the core within the investment after melting out the wax model in the lost-wax process (Dark, 1973). Here, despite this precaution and the caster's skill, there is a casting flaw at the back on the right side. The head-dress and neck ring depict coral beads; these would have come from the Mediterranean, probably by trans-Saharan trade; red jasper beads are also worn by Benin royalty ( red is considered a threatening colour, with the capacity to repel evil). Briefly summarised, the early Period of Benin Art, that of the finer bronze heads and the ivory masks, dates from the fifteenth to the mid sixteenth century. The Middle Period, to which the plaques and many heads and other bronzes, such as some of the cocks, aquamaniles and Portuguese soldiers belong, is approximately 1550-1650. The Late Period, characterised by heavy, flamboyant Oba's heads and a decline in craftsmanship, spans the time between 1650 and 1897, the date of the Benin Expedition ( Fagg, 1963). (Margret Carey. In: Steven Hooper (ed.), 1997, Catalogue to the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection. University of East Anglia.)
material material	BrassIron
dimension.free dimensions	h. 230 x w. 213 x d. 215 mm
dimension.type dimensions	HeightWidthDepth
dimension.unit dimensions	mmmmmm
object_category object type	Figure (head)3D
inscription.content inscriptions	Collection identification and object number
inscription.method inscriptions	Silversafe paper coated and adhered with Paraloid B72
inscription.notes inscriptions	Pre-2001
inscription.type inscriptions	Object number label
inscription.type.lref inscriptions	1778
acquisition.source prior source	Robert and Lisa Sainsbury
collection prior source	Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection
owner_hist.notes prior source provenance	Formerly in the Pitt-Rivers Collection, Farnham, Dorset.
acquisition.notes provenance	Benin City was the principal settlement of the Edo Kingdom of Benin, situated in the south of Nigeria. In February 1897 the city was attacked by British military, ending the ruling indigenous administration, and the Oba (King) Ovonramwen Nogbaisi (reigned 1888–1897) was exiled. The city was destroyed along with its Royal Palaces. The royal regalia and important religious and memorial sculptures that survived the raid, were looted by the combined forces of British Royal marines and other colonial forces. The Oba’s son, Aiguobasinwin Ovonramwen, Eweka II (reigned 1914-1933) returned to Benin City in 1914, restored the city and Palace complex and the Oba dynasty continues today as a regional and cultural administration in Edo state, Nigeria. The number of artefacts taken in 1897 is believed to be around 2,500, which were shipped to the UK by the British Admiralty. About 40% of the objects were accessioned to the British Museum (700 works) and other works were given to individual military personnel. The remainder were sold at auction by the Admiralty to pay for the expedition , for example, at Stevens Auction Rooms, 38 King Street, London, May 25, 1897, followed by several sales at William Downing Webster, Bicester, between 1898 and 1900. The artefacts are now dispersed across museum collections, notably in Europe and the USA. Formerly in the Pitt Rivers museum, Dorset (illustrated in the catalogue of 1900). Items from the Pitt Rivers Museum were sold on the open art market throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s.Purchased by Robert and Lisa Sainsbury from John Hewett, 1966 Donated by Robert and Lisa Sainsbury to the University of East Anglia, 1976 (Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts)
credit_line provenance	Donated by Robert and Lisa Sainsbury, 1973
cultural_group ethnic attribution	Edo
acquisition.date accession date	1973
acquisition.method accession method	Gift
notes notes
exhibition exhibition history	The Victorian Vision
exhibition.date.end exhibition history	7/29/01
exhibition.date.start exhibition history	4/5/01
exhibition.lref exhibition history	10
exhibition.organiser exhibition history	Victoria and Albert Museum
exhibition.person_responsible exhibition history	Paul Atterbury
exhibition.person_responsible.role exhibition history	Curator
exhibition.venue exhibition history	Victoria and Albert Museum
catalogue.illus_page bibliography	150-153
catalogue.name bibliography	Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection / edited by Steven Hooper
catalogue.name.lref bibliography	7
catalogue.number bibliography	116
catalogue.page bibliography	151-153
catalogue.volume bibliography	2
current_owner legal status	University of East Anglia
condition condition
condition.lref condition
acquisition.method.lref	8817
acquisition.source.lref	2149
collection.lref	297
cultural_group.lref	519
current_location.context	LA 1A Case 14
current_location.date	1/4/18
current_location.lref	1280
current_location.name	LA 1A Case 14
current_location.notes	(TH)
current_location.type	1
current_owner.lref	603
dimension.type.lref	678
dimension.unit.lref	999
dimension.value	230213215
documentation.author	FALGAYRETTES-LEVEAU, CHRISTIANE
documentation.place	France
documentation.publisher	GALLIMARD
documentation.shelfmark	B0001
documentation.staff_library	x
documentation.title	ARTS D'AFRIQUE
documentation.title.lref	16
documentation.year	2000
edit.date	2021-05-192020-08-122020-06-082020-06-082020-06-082020-06-012020-06-012020-06-012020-06-012020-06-012020-05-182020-04-022019-10-14
edit.name	uwz19wpuruh16mruruh16mruruh16mruruh16mruruh16mruruh16mruruh16mruruh16mruruh16mruawx19acuawx19acuwvs18rxu
edit.source	COLLECT>interncollect>interncollect>interncollect>interncollect>interncollect>interncollect>interncollect>interncollect>interncollect>interncollect>interncollect>internCOLLECT
edit.time	17:20:2511:32:4610:35:1810:34:2210:32:4913:22:3513:17:3411:46:3211:45:2511:44:3714:51:5515:16:3916:35:33
frame	Object mount
frame.notes	N
free_field.confidential	x
free_field.type	B/W NegB/W NegB/W NegB/W NegB/W NegB/W NegTransparencyTransparencyTransparency
input.date	2/6/01
input.name	t300
input.source	document
input.time	9:50:23 AM
label.date	5/19/21
label.source	Collection Highlights (web text)
label.text	<p class="p2" style="margin-bottom:10px;padding:0px;font-family:HelveticaNeueLTPro-Lt, Arial, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif;font-size:16px;background-color:#ffffff;">This magnificent sculpture once formed part of an ancestral altar made to honour the deceased Oba (king) of the historic Kingdom of Benin. There were two funerals in the first half of the sixteenth century for which this sculpture could have been commissioned: the first was for Ozolua (c. 1480–1504), performed by his son Esigie (c. 1504–1547); the second for Esigie himself, performed by his son, Orhogbua (c. 1547–1580).</p><p class="p2" style="margin-bottom:10px;padding:0px;font-family:HelveticaNeueLTPro-Lt, Arial, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif;font-size:16px;background-color:#ffffff;">The sculpture depicts the idealised likeness typical of royal portraiture. Commemorative portraiture of this type is highly stylised and portrays the deceased in his prime. A cavity in the head would have originally accommodated a carved elephant tusk.</p><p class="p2" style="margin-bottom:10px;padding:0px;font-family:HelveticaNeueLTPro-Lt, Arial, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif;font-size:16px;background-color:#ffffff;">The Sainsbury Centre acknowledges the ownership of this object is contested due to the circumstances of its removal from the Royal Court of Benin in 1897 by British colonial action. Please see our online catalogue for more information.</p><p class="p3" style="margin-bottom:10px;padding:0px;font-family:HelveticaNeueLTPro-Lt, Arial, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif;font-size:16px;background-color:#ffffff;">—</p><p class="p4" style="margin-bottom:10px;padding:0px;font-family:HelveticaNeueLTPro-Lt, Arial, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif;font-size:16px;background-color:#ffffff;">Calvin Winner, Head of Collections, Sainsbury Centre</p>
label.type	OBJECTLABEL
material.lref	57274
object_category.lref	1128815
owner_hist.date.start	1966

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