Unknown Artist
Have you ever heard of the Benin Bronzes? These are thousands of metal sculptures and ivory carvings made between the 15th and 19th centuries looted by British troops in 1897 from the West African kingdom of Benin, in modern day Nigeria's Edo state. During this so-called punitive expedition, soldiers burned the city and killed an unknown number of people, bringing the Kingdom of Benin to a violent end. Benin art is now spread around the world; the biggest collection of more than 900 pieces of art (not only bronzes) resides in the British Museum in London. Recently Nigeria demanded the restitution of the looted art; British Museum refuses to repatriate the plundered art, while Germany and France started the process of returning the masterpieces from their national collections.
Today we present a 16th-century ivory portrait of Queen Mother (Iyoba) Idia. It is one of four related ivory pendant masks that were among the prized regalia of the Oba of Benin (the traditional ruler and the custodian of the culture of the Edo people) and was among the prestige items taken by the British during the punitive expedition of 1897. Idia wears a headdress, a choker, scarification highlighted by iron inlay on the forehead, and all framed by the flange of an openwork tiara and collar of symbolic beings, as well as double loops at each side for attachment of the pendant. The Oba may have worn this mask at rites commemorating his mother, although today such pendants are worn at annual ceremonies of spiritual renewal and purification. Idia was the mother of Esigie, the Oba of Benin who ruled from 1504 to 1550. She played a significant role in the rise and reign of her son, being described as a great warrior who fought relentlessly before and during her son's reign.
February is Black History Month, which is a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora around the world. Today at the very last day of it we feature a masterpiece of Benin art to keep the memory of one of the oldest and most developed states in the coastal hinterland of West Africa that was formed around the 11th century AD and lasted until 1897.
P.S. Are you fascinated by this work? You will learn more about Queen Mother Idia and her portrait here. :)