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HOME :
African & Tribal Art :
Benin : Benin Style Bronze Head of a Mother Queen
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Benin Style Bronze Head of a Mother Queen - PF.5362
Origin: Southcentral Nigeria
Circa: 20
th
Century AD
Dimensions:
21.25" (54.0cm) high
x 5" (12.7cm) wide
Collection: African
Style: Benin Style
Medium: Bronze
$8,000.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
Bronze commemorative heads placed on altars
are dedicated to past Iyobas (queen mothers).
The most distinctive feature of this head is the
marvelous high, forward-pointing headdress,
which is a version of the elaborate coiffure
known as “chicken-beak” worn by high-ranking
Edo women. Her face is expressive of calmness
and sensitivity befitting a person of royal rank,
with wide-open eyes, full lips, a broad nose and
scarification on the forehead. She wears a tight-
fitting bead collar reaching to the back of the
neck and below the chin. All these attributes
denote high rank of the first woman among the
Oba’s many wives to give him a son. She is
granted the title of Iyobas seven years after her
son is crowned, thus ensuring her immortality
among her people.
- (PF.5362)
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