Ancestral Altar Tusk
c. 1820
- Medium
- Elephant ivory
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- Overall: 197.4 cm (77 11/16 in.)
- Culture
- Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, Ẹdo peoples, members of the Igbesanmwan (wood and ivory carvers) guild
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, African Art
- Credit line
- Gift of Katherine C. White
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Ọba Ọsẹmwẹdẹ commissioned the carving of this tusk to connect with his ancestors and symbolize his strength. It is covered with royal figures wearing elaborate regalia and scenes of power, ritual, and violence. While Benin royal symbols may look similar across centuries, their meanings can shift. Ọsẹmwẹdẹ’s reign was prosperous due to trade with the Dutch; however, 16th-century Portuguese men are carved on the lower tusk. By the 1800s they represented any European traders. This tusk’s surface likely became worn and cracked from frequent washing, bleaching, and the applying of a white clay (orhue) linked to peace, purity, and prosperity.
