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Source Description
Courtiers, priests, and senior chiefs strike instruments like this during the Ugie Ọrọ festival. The long-legged metal bird refers to the 16th-century ruler Ọba Ẹsigie. Wings outstretched with long, textured feathers, it is the <em>ahianmwẹn-ọrọ</em> (bird of prophecy). It stares outward, a likely magical substance clenched in its beak. Such a bird prophesied Ẹsigie’s defeat and death during the Idah War (about 1515–17), leading his people to resist fighting for him. When Ẹsigie triumphed, bronze bird effigies were beaten for days on end throughout the year. This punished the false avian prophet and shamed the cowardly men.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
117894
label
Idiophone/Staff (ahianmwẹn-ọrọ)
core
obj
dtoType
sculpture
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
117894
contentType
sculpture
title
Idiophone/Staff (ahianmwẹn-ọrọ)
description
Courtiers, priests, and senior chiefs strike instruments like this during the Ugie Ọrọ festival. The long-legged metal bird refers to the 16th-century ruler Ọba Ẹsigie. Wings outstretched with long, textured feathers, it is the <em>ahianmwẹn-ọrọ</em> (bird of prophecy). It stares outward, a likely magical substance clenched in its beak. Such a bird prophesied Ẹsigie’s defeat and death during the Idah War (about 1515–17), leading his people to resist fighting for him. When Ẹsigie triumphed, bronze bird effigies were beaten for days on end throughout the year. This punished the false avian prophet and shamed the cowardly men.
date
possibly 1800s
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60741605
genreSpecific
Sculpture
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 36.2 x 9.9 cm (14 1/4 x 3 7/8 in.)
cul
Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, Ẹdo peoples, members of the Igun Eronmwon (royal brasscasters) guild
accession
1938.5
Source extras
tec
Copper alloy
tombstone
Idiophone/Staff (ahianmwẹn-ọrọ), possibly 1800s. Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, Ẹdo peoples, members of the Igun Eronmwon (royal brasscasters) guild. Copper alloy; overall: 36.2 x 9.9 cm (14 1/4 x 3 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, James Albert Ford Memorial Fund, 1938.5
collection
African Art
didYouKnow
An image of the <em>ahianmwẹn-ọrọ</em> (bird of prophecy) once sat atop the roof of the palace in the Benin Kingdom.
citations
citation
Foote, Helen S. "Two Bronzes from Benin." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 25, no. 3 (1938): 48-50.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 50; illustrated p. 48
citation
CMA 1938: Bulletin (March 1938)
citation
Lane, James W. "Current Exhibitions." <em>Parnassus </em>Vol. 7, no. VII (December 1935): 26-31, 35.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 31.
citation
"Au Cleveland Museum of Art." <em>Mouseion. </em>(April 1938) 13-14.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 13
citation
Petridis, Constantijn. <em>South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. </em>Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.
page_number
Reproduced: fig. 4, p. 15
citation
Petridis, Constantine. "A World of Great Art for Everyone." In <em>Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display</em>. Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Christa Clarke, 104-121. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 113, 119
citation
<em>Bronzes and Ivories from the Old Kingdom of Benin: Exhibition from November 25 to December 14, 1935 At the Galleries of M. Knoedler and Company 14 East 57 Street New York City. </em>New York: M. Knoedler and Company, [1935].
page_number
Mentioned: Fig. 28 (illustrated)
citation
Windmuller-Luna, Kristen. “Art from the Benin Kingdom.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine </em>61, no. 1 (Winter 2021): 34-35.
page_number
Reproduced: P. 34; Mentioned: P. 35.
citation
<em>Digital Benin, </em>Markk Museum Am Rothenbaum Kulturen und Kunste der Welt<em>, (</em>Last Updated: 2021-02-13)
page_number
ID 117894
creditline
James Albert Ford Memorial Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:06:18.617000
sourceId
117894
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
Copper alloy
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
aa33e896b7844f3c