The lost treasures of ancient Benin.
Date
1981-03
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Lagos State: National Museum, Onikan
Abstract
Punitive expedition 1897; Federal government efforts at restitution; Recent acquisition
Description
Benin art is essentially a court art, not an art of the people because the Oba had the monopoly of the works. He maintained specialist guilds of bronze-smiths, wood and ivory carvers and bead workers. The bronze-smiths, in particular were forbidden under pain of death, to
work for anyone outside the court where everything was concentrated. The origin of Benin tradition which was during the reign of Oba Oguala in the fourth reign of Oba of Benin of the present dynasty dating to AD.1400 was that the Oba requested a bronze-smith to be sent from
ile-lfe, his ancestral home to teach the craft in Benin. Furthermore, another tradition maintained that the heads of the deceased Oba of Benin were normally returned to lle-lfe for burial at the site of Orun Oba Ado’and in return, the bronze memorial heads of the deceased Oba were sent to Benin to be kept there and this has given rise to one speculation that Benin court art was derived from lle-lfe.