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1916.45.110

Conventionalized horned figure (horns and pedestal alone remaining); base covered with cowrie-shells and surmounted in front by a bronze 'manilla'.

On display

1916.45.110

Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

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Collection type
Object
Description
Conventionalized horned figure (horns and pedestal alone remaining); base covered with cowrie-shells and surmounted in front by a bronze 'manilla'.
Geographical reference
Nigeria
Africa > Western Africa > Nigeria
Degema Ndarshi
Cultural groups
Igbo Etche
Person
Field collector Percy Amaury Talbot
PRM source Percy Amaury Talbot
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1916
Date collected
By 1916
Acquisition information
Donated: 1916
Materials and processes
Material Wood Plant, Material Cowrie Shell, Material Bronze Metal, Process Carved, Process Recycled
Dimensions
Length: max 109 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1916.45.110
Research and responses

See Talbot, 'Tribes of the Niger Delta', 1932, p. 98.

Associated publications
Illustrated in colour (PRM000026346) as Figure 60 on page 174 of From Idol to Art—African 'Objects-with-Power: A Challenge for Missionaries, Anthropologists and Museum Curators (African Studies Centre African Studies Collection, Vol. 59), by Harrie Leyten (Leiden: African Studies Centre, 2015). Caption (same page): 'Figure 60 An Ibo Ikenga from Nigeria in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford[,] that was collected by Talbot in 1916 and was described as a "protective juju"'. See also the entry for this image on page 302 in the 'Index of Figures': '60 Ikenga figure with cowries and a manilla. Ibo, Nigeria. Wood, plant, cowrie shell and bronze metal. Height: 11 cm. Collected in 1916 by Talbot and described by him as a "protective juju". Collection: Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford. Catalogue no. 1916.45.110. The cowrie shells and the manilla attached to this ikenga probably reflect the owner's financial achievements. Courtesy of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.' NB The reference to 'Basden 1921' is to Among the Ibos of Nigeria, by G. T. Basden (London: Nonsuch Publishing, 2006). [JC 21 4 2017]

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