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The Art Institute of Chicago
(Art Institute Website)
111 S. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60603
312.443.3600
Benin - Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria
July 10 to September 21, 2008
Corporate Sponsor: Sara Lee Foundation
Major Funding: Perucca Family Foundation
Additional Support: Ann and Robert H. Lurie Foundation
Susan Weinrebe
July 8, 2008
Kingly artwork, now in the process of being repatriated to the royal family of the Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria, is the latest exhibition coup for the Art Institute, the sole venue in North America for these historically important works of African art.
Within the Kingdom of Benin, a separate entity from the Republic of Benin in West Africa, the obas or kings, have been dynastic rulers, believed to be divine, since the 13th Century. As royals everywhere, they chose to memorialize the glories of their reigns and their personal exploits. Thus, expressions of the obas’ divinity and accomplishments found their form in ivory, coral, horn and, most especially, brass castings.
Until the late 1800’s, when trade conflicts with Great Britain led to the overthrow and exile of the oba and the subsequent looting of the palace, the treasure trove of art work had not been seen by outsiders. Then, as it was dispersed among museums and private collections, the heritage of the kings of Benin existed in isolated pieces, scattered as it was, across Europe and America. Only now, are more than 220 of those pieces gathered as an historic documentation of the might and richness of the court.
Supported at the pleasure of the royals, and governed by sumptuary laws, guilds flourished in the arts of beading, ivory, and woodcarving and especially brass casting. Most abundantly represented in the exhibit, these casts reference cultural and religious symbols, as well as family connections spanning centuries.
Several altar heads, sometimes used in sacrifices to honor the deceased, depict seemingly stylized features. However, at a reception hosted by the Art Institute, I observed several individuals in the retinue of the royal court, at least one of whom was a dead ringer for the Altar Head of an Oba, which can be seen on the cover of the show’s Schedule of Events. Staring pupils in a face decorated with ritual scarification and a neck elongated by encircling rings, stacked from clavicle to jaw, create an aspect both serene and fearsome. Intricacies of coverings on many of the heads, both free standing sculptures and plaques, illustrate the use of coral, woven and worn in great quantities even to this day by the royal court, and conveying, through its ocean origin, the duality of the oba’s power as a ruler on land and god in the water.
There are hip ornaments eulogizing ancestors, intricately designed, containing secret compartments and blending the power of position and the power of the occult into memorial pieces. Plaques commemorate battles and triumph over enemies and obas, who are often supported by followers, as they cannot support the magnitude of their divinity by themselves. Animals relating to myth and reality especially abound.
Symbolically, the king inhabited a place hovering between water, land, and sky; thus, creatures from each of these realms, such as birds, fish, crocodiles, or snakes are represented and representative. A set of leopards, for instance, gorgeous, sleek, and dangerous, are metaphors for the king himself, who was never, because of court protocol, referred to directly, but instead, as “the leopard.” In fact, in the past, an oba might well keep partly tame leopards about his palace as a reminder of his dominance over the animal world.
The palace at one time was decorated with immense brass models of snakes, heads of which are part of the exhibit. Their segmented bodies were attached to towers and would have appeared to be slithering downward when seen at a distance, their jointed tongues flickering in the wind, another symbol of the king’s mastery and origins on more than one level of being.
When Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria closes, the family and spiritual goods of the court’s heritage will again be scattered around the world. As one of the royal family pleaded, private collectors, still in possession of the art created for the monarchy, are encouraged to repatriate this birthright to the royal family, who are after all, still well and alive in Benin.
Unknown. /Altar Head of an Oba (Uhunmwun Elao) /16th century.
Nigeria, Benin Kingdom; Edo. Brass; 20 x 19 x 22 cm (7 7/8 x 7 1/2 x 8 5/8 in.).
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum, III C 8169.
Uknown. /Altar Head of an Oba (Uhunmwun Elao)/, 18th/early 19th century.
Nigeria, Benin Kingdom; Edo. Brass; h: 32.4 cm (12 3/4 in.).
The Art Institute of Chicago, Major Acquisitions Centennial Endowment.
Unknown. /Altar Group (Aseberia) with Oba Akenzua I and Attendants/, 18th century.
Nigeria, Benin Kingdom; Edo. Brass; h: 63 cm (25 1/4 in.).
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum, III C 8164.
Unknown. Pair of Leopards, 16th/18th century.
Nigeria, Benin Kingdom; Edo. Brass; 50 x 79 x 15 cm (19 5/8 x 31 1/8 x 5 7/8 in.);
49 x 77 x 14 cm (19 1/4 x 30 1/4 x 5 1/2 in.).
The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria, 52.13.1–2.
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