MUSEUM QUALITY , ANTIQUE BRONZE BENIN QUEEN 20

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MUSEUM QUALITY , ANTIQUE BRONZE BENIN QUEEN 20

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Sold Date: 03/21/2007
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art

< BENIN
QUEEN BRONZE
NIGERIA
20" TALL The kingdom of Benin came to an abrupt end when the British invaded them in 1897. We also know that thin castings were made before the lucrative slave trade began. This casting is fairly heavy. The rise of the very old kingdom of Ife can be traced back to the 11th century. Their bronze casting skills were well known and it was their craftsmen that, by mutual arrangement, taught the younger Kingdom of Benin the art of casting bronze by what is known as the "Lost Wax Method".The Benin kingdom was founded by the son of an Ife king in the early 14th century AD. The art of bronze casting was introduced around the year 1280. The kingdom reached its maximum size and artistic splendor in the 15th and 16th century. Following the bloody British punitive expedition to Nigeria in 1897, about three thousand brass, ivory and wooden objects were consigned to the Western world.The numerous brass heads and figures cast by Benin metalworkers were created for the royal palace, w a new oba would dedicate an altar to his predecessor. The majority of everyday Benin objects were made for and associated with court ceremonies. During the British punitive expedition, more than 1,000 brass plaques were appropriated from the oba's palace. Dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, these plaques were secreted in a storage room. It is thought that they were nailed to palace walls and pillars as a form of decoration or as references to protocol. They show the oba in full regalia along with his nobility, warriors and Portuguese traders. The most elaborate ones display a procession of up to nine people, while others depict only fish or birds. Despite the disappearance of the Benin kingdom, the Yoruba people living on its territory continued to produce artwork inspired by the great royal art of Benin. Queen Idia, mother of Oba Esigie, king of Benin from the late fifteenth to the early sixteenth century, played a key role in her son's military campaigns against the Igala people, which may have been over control of the Niger waterway. Benin finally won these wars and made the Igala king a vassal of the Oba.

Oba Esigie also fought an internal battle with his brother, Arhuaran, over the establishment of a capital city. Oba Esigie was based in the capital, Benin City, but Arhuaran sought to establish another large important city, Udo, as the main centre. Brass casters of Benin were taken to Udo to work until Oba Esigie won the war.

A brass head representing Queen Idia was made to be placed in her altar following her death. It is said that Oba Esigie instituted the title of Queen Mother and established the tradition of casting heads of this type in honour of her military and ritual powers. Such heads were placed in altars in the palace and in the Queen Mother's residence.

CHECK OUT THE BRONZES @ /BENIN/Benin A ANTIQUE AGED PATINA.
CONDITION - EXCELLENT
40 - 60 YEARS OLD
SHIPPING $ 30.00 +/- USA
INTRNATIONAL 45.00
VALUE $ 950.00
COMPARE WITH OTHER BENIN AND IFE STYLE BRONZES AND THEN MAKE YOUR INVESTMENT
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