Rare ram heads "osamasinmi" ·  Nigeria, Benin/Owo · ID: 3039628

Description

wood, encrusted reddish brown patina, conical-shaped base with zoomorphic head and stylized horns, raised rim zone with incised geometrical dedor, rectangular deepening backside (for insertion of special sacred items to please the ancestors), old collection label “3101”, sacrificial traces, dam., missing parts through insect caused damage, traces of old age, abrasion of paint, base;
such ram heads or human heads with ram horns may have been placed behind special base plates at ancestor altars of high ranking “owo” chiefs (compare picture). Similar to the bronze heads of the Benin kingdom, the “osamasinmi” received libation at the harvest of the first yam roots, since they incorporate the fruitful vital force that the gods may give through the intercession of the ancestors. It is suggested that the ram heads had a longer tradtition than the human heads. Only a few ram heads have appeared in western collections and have been published.

Littérature comparée

Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture, Munich 2009, p. 495 f. Schildkrout, Enid (Hg.), Wild Spirits - Strong Medicine. African Art and the Wilderness, New York 1989, p. 82, ill. 3