Wall plaque, from Oba's palace
Edo peoples, Benin (Nigeria). 16th century C.E. Cast brass
It was the first of three exceptional masterpieces from the Kingdom of Benin acquired under Goldwater's guidance that dramatically transformed the collection.
Form:
Cast brass relief plaque. Brass was a valuable material in Benin and brassworking took extreme technical skill. The form shows that the people of this culture were interacting with Europeans because the plaque combines traditional depictions of figures from the Beninese culture and brass work of European cultures.
Function:
Decorated palace walls. Plaques were made in pairs and attached to pillars in Oba's palace. They show court rituals that occurred in the palace and the order of plaques in the palace show the history of the kingdom. It clearly expresses royal power, showing the Oba as especially large and with a huge head. The plaque also demonstrates the consequences of British imperialism during the Scramble for Africa, as there was a vastly increased system of trade between Benin and Portugal after the British conquest.
Content:
The plaque depicts the King attended by several court attendants. The King is depicted in the center of the plaque, working to emphasize his undisputed power. The attendants appear smaller than the king not because they are shorter or farther away (Benin artists had not begun using depth yet), but because they are less important than the king. The king is shown riding a horse and wearing expensive necklaces and jewelry. The items such as the beads worn by the Oba, the horse Oba rides and the brass that makes up the plaque. The hierarchical scale is used to show the relative importance of the Oba to the surrounding figures, as he is much larger. There is also a distinct use of proportion, in which the Oba's head is larger than expected. This is because the Oba was known as the "Great Head", as he is the center of wisdom and power amongst the entirety of Benin.
Context:
At the time this plaque was made, the Beninese mainly traded with the Portuguese empire. This was a new system of trade that was recently enabled due to the British imperial conquests of Benin. The Portuguese empire began declining around the 18th century and the British began making inroads into Benin. However, the Portuguese had cooperated with the local peoples and seek mutually beneficial trade, while the British sought to dominate the local peoples and extract resources. In 1897 the British raided Oba's palace and burned the city around it. They also looted the valuables from inside the palace and took many of them back to Britain. This piece was one of the stolen works and is currently on display in a museum in Britain. Its ownership is currently under debate.
Themes:
The themes of images of power/authority, materials and their symbolic importance, the human body, propaganda, and the individual and society are all prevalent in the wall plaque from Oba's palace.
Cross-Cultural Connections:
The use of hierarchical scale was used by the Benin sculptors to show the Oba's relative importance, and artists of Ancient Egypt and Sumeria also used this convention.
Khan Academy.
