Plaque
Edo (Nigeria; Coastal West Africa)
16th/17th century
- Medium
- Brass
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- 35 × 31.2 × 7 cm (13 3/4 × 12 1/4 × 2 3/4 in.)
- Culture
- Nigeria
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa
- Credit line
- Samuel P. Avery Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
During the 16th century, coastal trade made brass amply available in the Kingdom of Benin. King Esigie (reigned about 1504–about 1550) exploited the inflow by commissioning his court’s brass casters to make commemorative plaques for his palace. The warrior depicted here wears a coral-studded cap and collar indicating his rank. The horseshoe shape in the upper left corner represents a copper or brass ring known as a manilla. Manufactured in Europe, such rings were used as currency among the Benin people.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
