Ancestral Commemorative Head (uhunmwun-elao) (possibly mid-1500s or early 1600s): Art, History and Details

Ancestral Commemorative Head (uhunmwun-elao) (possibly mid-1500s or early 1600s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

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.

Object facts

• Title: Ancestral Commemorative Head (uhunmwun-elao)
• Date: possibly mid-1500s or early 1600s
• Culture: Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, Ẹdo peoples, members of the Igun Eronmwon (royal brasscasters) guild
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: Copper alloy and iron
• Dimensions: Overall: 29.9 x 21.6 x 20.4 cm (11 3/4 x 8 1/2 x 8 1/16 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 1938.6

A detail from the museum

The obas (kings) of the Benin Kingdom still wear coral headpieces and jewelry like this sculpted head depicts.

Collection credit

Dudley P. Allen Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Milliken, William M. "Treasure of Ivories and Bronzes from the Ancient Kingdom of Benin." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 24, no. 3 (1937): 35-36.
• Foote, Helen S. 1938. "Two Bronzes from Benin". Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art. 25: 48-50.
• "Au Cleveland Museum of Art." Mouseion. (April 1938) 13-14.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.