Object Number
M.74.90
Edo designations
English designations
Relief Plaque
Categories
Palace Architecture & Ornamentation
Location
5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036, United States
Loading...

Iconographies

3 annotations
Iconography image
Ikoro
Armcuff

Ikoro (armcuffs) are made from different materials using different techniques, including brass sheet, cast bronze, and ivory. They were crafted by different guilds depending on the material used: artists of the Igun-Ẹrọnmwọn cast them in brass or hammered and incised them from brass sheet, whereas artists of the Igbesamwan carved ivory Ikoro. Ikoro were made in different qualities, from rather simple examples with abstract geometric decoration to finely carved ivory examples with brass or copper inlays. Ikoro are worn in pairs on both forearms by chiefs and the Ọba during ceremonies and festivals. Figures depicted on the Emwin Arhe (royal treasures) are often shown wearing such pairs.

1 annotation
Ikoro
Iconography image
Ẹkpoki
Cylindrical Boxes

Ẹkpoki are cylindrical boxes made by members of the Isekpokin (guild of leather workers) from leather and bark. In the late 19th century, some were also crafted from brass sheet with rich embossed ornamentation. Members of the Igun Ẹronmwon (guild of brass casters) might have created examples from cast brass, although only a single example of this kind is known today (inventory no. 212729). Ẹkpoki are used by the Ọba to present gifts to chiefs, while chiefs use leather Ẹkpoki to send kola nuts and other traditional items to one another (Inneh 2007, pp. 109–110). Ẹkpoki also feature in important rituals such as Iguẹ, during which the Ọba is ceremonially presented with an Ẹkpoki (Blackmun in Plankensteiner 2007, cat. no. 74, p. 328), as well as Ugie-Ewere, during which the Ọba is presented with an Ẹkpoki that symbolically contains a gift from the Ooni of Ife (Plankensteiner 2007, cat. no. 83, p. 336). This refers to an oral tradition that, at the coronation, the Ooni of Ife sent certain regalia. Gifts presented in Ẹkpoki could also have carried symbolic messages.

1 annotation
Ẹkpoki
Water fern
Ebe Amẹ
Water Fern

Ebe Amẹ refers to a wide variety of plants, particularly the leaves of the water fern or river leaf, found in riverine areas of southern Nigeria. Artists from the Igun-Ẹrọnmwọn used these as a decorative motif in the background of most Ama-Ẹrọnmwọn (bronze relief plaques). The petals of the Ebe Amẹ, like the points of the ἀghàdàgháda (crossroads), represent the four cardinal directions: north, east, south, and west. The number four plays a foundational role in the Edo calendar, which is structured around four market days.

1 annotation
Ebe Amẹ

Provenance

5 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 19, 1897 (day approximate) to June 1899 (month approximate)
The object was looted by Unknown member of the British colonial military campaign on Benin - February 1897 from Benin Kingdom.
Unknown
1949 (approximate) to 1980s
The object is known to have come into contact with Kenneth John Hewett, later in London.
Unknown
1958 (approximate) to 1974
The object is known to have come into contact with Eugene Victor Thaw, later in New York City.
Purchase
1974
The object was purchased by the LACMA The Los Angeles County Museum of Art from Eugene Victor Thaw through Anna Bing Arnold from New York City to Los Angeles.

Institution data

LACMA The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The data was transferred directly by the institution.
Last updated: 2021-06-16
Language: english
Institution fieldValue
Object Number
object id
M.74.90
Title
designation
Plaque
Medium
material
Copper alloy
Dimensions
dimensions
19 x 7 1/4 x 3 1/2 in. (48.26 x 18.42 x 8.89 cm) irregular
Classification
object type
Sculpture
Date
date made
17th century
Maker
producer
Unknown
Place Made
production place
Africa, Nigeria
Credit Line
prior source
Gift of Anna Bing Arnold
Culture
ethnic attribution
Benin Kingdom
Department
department and institution
African Art
Exhibition History
exhibition history
LACMA Permanent Collection Galleries (Ahmanson Gallery); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, United States (February 16, 2001 - March 1, 2006) AFRICA, the Art of a Continent; Royal Academy of Arts, London, England, United Kingdom (October 4, 1995 - January 21, 1996) Presence and Power: Images of the Sublime from Africa, North America and the Pacific; Santa Ana College Art Gallery, Santa Ana, California, United States (August 30, 1985 - October 3, 1985) �Armand Hammer Award Luncheon�; Cultural Commission, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, United States (October 24, 1984) Benin Art; UCLA Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, California, United States (February 22, 1983 - April 24, 1983) LACMA Permanent Collection Galleries (Atrium Level); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, United States (1979 - 1982?) LACMA Tenth Anniversary Exhibition; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, United States (May 7, 1975 - June 29, 1975) Unknown Exhibition; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, United States (November 26, 1974 � April 28, 1975)
Publication History
bibliography
D'Andrea, Jeanne and Stephen West, ed. Los Angeles County Museum of Art Bulletin: Three Decades of Collecting: Gifts of Anna Bing Arnold. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1980. Donahue, Kenneth. Los Angeles County Museum of Art Handbook. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1977. Los Angeles County Museum of Art Report July 1, 1973 - June 30, 1975. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1976. Los Angeles County Museum of Art Bulletin, vol. 26. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1980. Ben-Amos, Paula and Arnold Rubin, ed. The Art of Power: The Power of Art, Studies in Benin Iconography. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 1983. Donahue, Kenneth. X, a Decade of Collecting: 1965-1975. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1975.
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