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Source Description
Brass heads are among many objects a new Ọba commissions when dedicating a shrine to their predecessor. This head of an Ọba wears layered necklaces of royal coral beads. Tubular beads adorn both the netted cap and slender braids alongside his temples. While representing an individual, his facial features and calm expression are idealized. The thickly cast head once supported a tusk. Immune to corrosion, brass symbolizes royal permanence. A personal religious object, this head sat on an ancestral altar in the Ọba’s palace. Like many works taken from Benin altars, this contrasts with its present-day public display in an American museum.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
117905
label
Ancestral Commemorative Head (uhunmwun-elao)
core
obj
dtoType
sculpture
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
117905
contentType
sculpture
title
Ancestral Commemorative Head (uhunmwun-elao)
description
Brass heads are among many objects a new Ọba commissions when dedicating a shrine to their predecessor. This head of an Ọba wears layered necklaces of royal coral beads. Tubular beads adorn both the netted cap and slender braids alongside his temples. While representing an individual, his facial features and calm expression are idealized. The thickly cast head once supported a tusk. Immune to corrosion, brass symbolizes royal permanence. A personal religious object, this head sat on an ancestral altar in the Ọba’s palace. Like many works taken from Benin altars, this contrasts with its present-day public display in an American museum.
date
possibly mid-1500s or early 1600s
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60778993
genreSpecific
Sculpture
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 29.9 x 21.6 x 20.4 cm (11 3/4 x 8 1/2 x 8 1/16 in.)
cul
Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, Ẹdo peoples, members of the Igun Eronmwon (royal brasscasters) guild
accession
1938.6
Source extras
tec
Copper alloy and iron
tombstone
Ancestral Commemorative Head (uhunmwun-elao), possibly mid-1500s or early 1600s. Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, Ẹdo peoples, members of the Igun Eronmwon (royal brasscasters) guild. Copper alloy and iron; overall: 29.9 x 21.6 x 20.4 cm (11 3/4 x 8 1/2 x 8 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund, 1938.6
collection
African Art
didYouKnow
The <em>obas</em> (kings) of the Benin Kingdom still wear coral headpieces and jewelry like this sculpted head depicts.
citations
citation
Milliken, William M. "Treasure of Ivories and Bronzes from the Ancient Kingdom of Benin." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 24, no. 3 (1937): 35-36.
page_number
illustrated, unnumbered plate
citation
Foote, Helen S. 1938. "Two Bronzes from Benin". Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art. 25: 48-50.
page_number
mentioned p. 49; illustrated p. 48
citation
"Au Cleveland Museum of Art." <em>Mouseion. </em>(April 1938) 13-14.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 13
citation
Washington Howard University Gallery of Art. <em>Exhibition of African Negro Art</em>. Washington: Howard University Gallery of Art, 1953.
page_number
cat no. 33
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 386
citation
Burton, Richard. "In Cleveland: The Idea of a Museum." <em>Museums Journal</em> 63, no. 4 (1964): 263-73.
page_number
p. 266, fig.70
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 303
citation
Fagg, William<em>. African Tribal Images; the Katherine White Reswick Collection</em>. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968.
page_number
no. 144
citation
Moore, Janet Gaylord.<em> The Many Ways of Seeing: An Introduction to the Pleasures of Art</em>. 1968.
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 303
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Berthold Fricke. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Hannover: Knorr & Hirth, 1970.
page_number
p. 102
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 411
citation
Anderson, Ross, and Barbara Perry. <em>The Diversions of Keramos: American Clay Sculpture, 1925-1950</em>. 1983.
page_number
p. 79, repr. p. 79, fig. 6:5.
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Henry John Drewal.<em> African Art: A Brief Guide to the Collection : the Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> [Cleveland]: The Museum, 1989.
page_number
fig.5.
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art.<em> Interpretations: Sixty-Five Works from the Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> 1991.
page_number
no. 41
citation
Perani, Judith, and Fred. T. Smith. <em>The Visual Arts of Africa: Gender, Power, and Life Cycle Rituals</em>. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.
page_number
fig. 6.7, pp. 175-176
citation
May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. <em>Knockouts: A Pocket Guide</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001.
page_number
no. 69, p. 67, 118
citation
Petridis, Constantijn. <em>South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. </em>Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.
page_number
Reproduced: cat. 25, p. 80 - 81
citation
Binder, Lisa, "Mr. Aitken, I Presume", Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em>. Vol. 44 no. 05, May 2004
page_number
Mentioned & reproduced: p. 12
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
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 31; Reproduced: P. 26-27
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 117905
creditline
Dudley P. Allen Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:06:23.651000
sourceId
117905
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
Copper alloy and iron
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
96a0033bcb9daf3d