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Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Benin Head of a Queen Mother (Iyoba), Nineteenth to Twentieth Century AD

Benin Head of a Queen Mother (Iyoba), Nineteenth to Twentieth Century AD

Bronze
42.3 x 17.8 x 19.5 cm
16 5/8 x 7 x 7 5/8 in
ES.3410
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When Benin’s king (oba) Ozolua died in AD 1514, he left behind him two sons who disputed the succession. Esigie controlled Benin City itself, the metropolitan heartland of the Benin...
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When Benin’s king (oba) Ozolua died in AD 1514, he left behind him two sons who disputed the succession. Esigie controlled Benin City itself, the metropolitan heartland of the Benin Kingdom, while his brother Arhuaran gathered support in the city of Udo. To make matters worse, the Igala people, a tribute-paying vassal of the Benin Empire, registered the central weakness at the heart of the Kingdom and began a lengthy revolt. In this moment of acute crisis, Esigie turned to his mother, Idia. Counsellor, priestess, sorceress, and general, Idia was indispensable to Esigie as he first dealt with his brother, then with the Igala. In commemoration of this event, Esigie bestowed on his mother the title of iyoba (Queen Mother), giving her power equal to that of the most senior chiefs. At least, this is the story; in fact, numerous African kingdoms had a powerful Queen Mother figure from the most ancient times, and it is likely that the Kingdom of Benin was no exception.

The principal function of an iyoba was to give birth to the next oba. She was then expected to conduct sorcery aimed at ensuring him a long and prosperous reign. Once her son succeeded to the throne, the iyoba was invested with the symbols of her office, and then moved to the city of Uselu. She was forbidden from seeing the oba ever again; nonetheless, she was expected to be his principal advisor, and so messages were constantly relayed from Uselu to Benin City, counselling her son on matters of state. Folowing her death, the iyoba became a kind of patron goddess of the reigning oba, and was the only female in the Kingdom to be commemorated with a bronze head at the important altars in the palace. This bronze head fits into that tradition. She wears the traditional ‘Chicken beak’ hairstyle, spectacularly rising from her head, covered in a latticework of coral beads known as the ukpe-okhue crown. Such headwear was only for the iyoba, and so allows us to identify her immediately. She has other marks of royalty too: scarification to her forehead, and the benign expression of a demigod. Her prominent oval-shaped eyes stare out at the viewer. She is the epitome of beauty for the Benin people: she has plump, full cheeks; thick lips gently parted; long braided strands of hair that trail down from her crown, ending in weights to keep them taught; a small, delicate nose; and a thick neck, emphasised by neck-rings which are stacked so high that they partly cover her mouth.

Benin art came to the attention of the Western World after the British punitive expedition of 1897. In retaliation for a British trading expedition gone wrong, resulting in the deaths of six British and 200 Africans, the British government punished the Benin Kingdom by killing a great many and burning down Benin City. During the process, the British stole a great many Benin artworks, filling the British Museum and denuding Nigerian collections in the process.

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