Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
While this looks like a bracelet, it wasn’t worn around a wrist. A chief or titleholder grasped this “hand coil” vertically during the annual Iguẹ festival, during which such men reaffirm their relationship to the Ọba, whose mystical powers are strengthened. An image of a man’s head caps each end of the thick, twisted metal. Repeated human touch rubbed the undecorated lengths bright and shiny. Though small, the coil’s detail is enormous: to capture it, the artist incised the designs in wax during the casting process. They show these men are elites, with necklaces, caps, and whisker-like facial markings.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
148196
label
Hand Coil
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
148196
contentType
object
title
Hand Coil
description
While this looks like a bracelet, it wasn’t worn around a wrist. A chief or titleholder grasped this “hand coil” vertically during the annual Iguẹ festival, during which such men reaffirm their relationship to the Ọba, whose mystical powers are strengthened. An image of a man’s head caps each end of the thick, twisted metal. Repeated human touch rubbed the undecorated lengths bright and shiny. Though small, the coil’s detail is enormous: to capture it, the artist incised the designs in wax during the casting process. They show these men are elites, with necklaces, caps, and whisker-like facial markings.
date
1800s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79928313
genreSpecific
Tools and Equipment
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Diameter: 11.5 cm (4 1/2 in.)
cul
Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, Ẹdo peoples, members of the Igun Eronmwon (royal brasscasters) guild
accession
1975.188
Source extras
tec
Copper alloy
tombstone
Hand Coil, 1800s. Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, Ẹdo peoples, members of the Igun Eronmwon (royal brasscasters) guild. Copper alloy; diameter: 11.5 cm (4 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Katherine C. White, 1975.188
collection
African Art
formerAccessionNumbers
941.68
138.62
didYouKnow
This is a unique object; it was made using the lost-wax casting technique, which destroys the wax mold in the creation process.
citations
citation
Fagg, William Buller. <em>African Tribal Images;the Katherine White Reswick Collection</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968, no. 147.
page_number
no. 147
citation
<em>Digital Benin, </em>Markk Museum Am Rothenbaum Kulturen und Kunste der Welt<em>, (</em>Last Updated: 2021-02-13)
page_number
ID 148196
creditline
Gift of Katherine C. White
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:37:13.434000
sourceId
148196
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
Copper alloy
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
71277dd3ba1b866e