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1991.13.6

Pedestal bowl of ivory, inlaid with brass. Guilloche pattern around rim, figures of Europeans and birds on the stem, heads and hands beneath the bowl.

On display

1991.13.6

Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

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Collection type
Object
Description
Pedestal bowl of ivory, inlaid with brass. Guilloche pattern around rim, figures of Europeans and birds on the stem, heads and hands beneath the bowl.
Geographical reference
Nigeria
Africa > Western Africa > Nigeria
Benin
Cultural groups
Edo
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1897
Date collected
1897
Acquisition information
Loaned: 1991
Materials and processes
Material Animal Ivory Tooth, Material Brass Metal, Process Inlaid, Process Carved
Dimensions
Height 200 mm, Diameter 260 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1991.13.6
Research and responses

The Dumas-Egerton Collection, of which this is part, was examined by Hermione Waterfield of Christie's in May 1984; see 'Part of the Nigerian Art Collected by Admiral Sir George Le Cler[c] Egerton on the Benin Expedition of 1897 on Deposit at Maidstone Museum' (copy in RDF). The entry for this object reads: 'The base of a Benin stemmed box, carved from five ivory sections, of hemispherical form with cylindrical stem and circular base, grooved for copper and bronze inlay much of which remains, decorated with two figures and two birds on the stem, the underside of the bowl with heads flanking star and squared strapwork motifs, four hands between, the base with four roundels of squared strapwork, interlaced borders. 7 3/4 in. high, 10 in. diam.' [JC 23/1/2002]

Examined by Benin specialist Barbara Blackmun in July 1991. According to Blackmun, this bowl would have had a lid, and may have been used for divination. [LMM 7 1991 ?; JC 9 7 2000]

Associated publications
Reproduced in black and white as figures 839 (front view), and 841 (detail of pedestal and underside of bowl) on page 487 of Die Altertümer von Benin, by Felix von Luschan (Berlin: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 1919; reprinted New York: Hacker Art Books, 1968). [LMM ?; JC 6 7 2000] Reproduced in black and white as figure 2 on page 8 of Symbols of Kings: Benin Art at the Pitt Rivers Museum, by Linda Mowat (Oxford: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, 1991). [JC 10 3 1997].

Search terms: Vessel, Figure, Divination Religion, Bowl, Bird Figure, Divination Accessory

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