Figural group

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Description

bronze, traces of corrosion, big figure with skirt in the middle, rich adorned with hangings of coral beads, crowned by a fine grooved diadem-like hairdo, both hands resting on the heads of two smaller figures to the front which are nearly identical in form: the left hand akimbo, while the right hand holds a ceremonial sword, which partly conceals the right face half, base;
each figure separately casted, fixed to each other by nails.
At the back of the big figures head we can find an old collection number “13747”, which indicates the piece to be collected on the “British Punitive Expedition” to Benin in 1897 (compare: “W. D. Webster”).
The heavy cast, the uniform faces, the european style of the trousers worn by the accompanying figures and the rather crude finish confirm that the group was created at the end of the 18th century.
At the Auction of Vérité Collection, Paris, June 2006, with lot 177 a comparable object was offered.

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Comparing literature

Göbel, Peter, Kunst aus Benin-Sammlung Hans Meyer, Leipzig 2002, p. 151 von Luschan, Felix, Alterthümer von Benin, Band III, Berlin 1919, p. 332, ill. 486 f. Duchateau, Armand, Benin, Paris 1990, p. 125, ill. 98,163

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