Benin court and ceremonial art

In the past, an elaborate series of rites were performed throughout the year to secure otherworldly support for the kingdom’s well-being and to celebrate decisive events in its history.

[2] The foreheads of pectoral masks are inlaid with iron rectangles, known as ikan aro ("cane of eye"), which give the face the look of determination, fierceness and power that is appropriate to a ruler.

They have a decorative flange around the lower portion of the face, usually representing either coiled mudfish, an openwork lattice or guilloche pattern, or a fluted collar, with a row of small loops directly below or behind it.

Akohen are large, side-blown trumpets carved of ivory and played by the Oba's retainers when he appears in full ceremonial dress at palace rituals.

[6] A variety of brass vessels were made in Benin, including buckets, bowls, jugs, boxes and aquamaniles in the forms of leopards and rams.

In Benin today, ritual specialists known as Emuru, who serve the Ebo n-Edo shrine, carry brass vessels with protective substances.

Typically, the central image is the Oba in coral regalia supported by the high priests Osa and Osuan, officials who tend the altars of the kingdom’s two patron gods.

Hip ornament with face of Uhunmwun-ekue, from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum
Waist Pendant with Oba and Two Attendants, from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum
Side-blown Trumpet, from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum
Figure of a Hornblower, from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum
Box in the Form of a Leopards Head, from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum
This double bell (Egogo), now in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum, is one of the oldest surviving African ivory sculptures; only six of these ivory gongs are known. Double gongs were used by the oba (king) during the Emobo ceremony to drive away evil spirits. The carving here depicts the oba, supported by his military commander and his heir.