Acquired from Reverend G. T. Basden in the Igbo region, early 20th century

Collection of James Thomas Hooper (1897–1971), Arundel, inv. no. 1822

Christie's, London, African Art from the James Hooper Collection, 14 July 1976, lot 56

Pierre Dartevelle (1940–2022), Brussels

Jean-Jacques Rotthier Collection (1932–2009), Brussels, then by descent

Munich, Germany, Villa Stuck, Götter Geister Ahnen. Afrikanische Skulpturen in deutschen Privatsammlungen / Gods, Spirits, Ancestors: African Sculpture from Private German Collections, 28 October 1992 – 10 January 1993

Hooper (James Thomas) and Burland (Cottie A.), The Art of Primitive Peoples, London: Fountain Press, 1953, pl. 57

Phelps (Steven), Art and Artifacts of the Pacific, Africa and the Americas: The James Hooper Collection, London: Hutchinson, 1976, p. 392, pl. 235, no. 1822

Schaedler (Karl-Ferdinand), Gods, Spirits, Ancestors: African Sculpture from Private German Collections, Munich: Panterra Verlag, 1992, p. 128, no. 97

46th Art Fair in Brussels, Brussels, 2000 (Advertisement Galerie Dartevelle)

This bronze hip ornament (uhunmwu-ekue) represents the Oba (king) and served as an insignia of fealty and political submission. Throughout the kingdoms within and around Benin, high-ranking officials wore such ornaments on the left hip to secure ceremonial skirts. The Oba distributed these objects to vassal rulers and subordinate chiefs throughout the regions under Edo influence, thereby formalizing their status and affirming their allegiance to the royal court. The mask is surmounted by an openwork crown composed of stylized coral beads, one of the foremost emblems of royal authority in Benin. The rings encircling the chin and beard area served as attachment points for strands of coral beads or small metal rattles, which would originally have been suspended from the ornament during palace ceremonies.