Statue d'un coq, fin du 19e siècle · Nigéria, Bénin, Edo · ID: 3045145
Vendu
3 600 €
Provenance
Josef Mueller (1887-1977), Solothurn, SwitzerlandBarbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva, Switzerland
Christie’s, London, 13 June 1978, lot 121
Description
bronze, original wood stand by Kichizô Inagaki, with signature
The cock is a recurrent topic of courtly art in Benin and has been adorning for centuries the ancestral altars, both of the “oba” of Benin, as well as of his mother, the “iyoba”.
Remarkably, in Benin, the senior woman of the “oba” is referred to as “the cock who crows the loudest” (“eson”). The comparison with a cock describes her role as a leader. The “eson” can give orders to other women, settle disputes and preserve peace.
Littérature comparée
Plankensteiner, Barbara (Hg.), Benin, Könige und Rituale, Wien 2007, p. 398 f.
Publications
AHDRC: 0088114