#africanart — Public Fediverse posts

Your art history post for today: by the Ìgùn Ẹ́rọ̀nwwọ̀n (brass-casting guild) artists, Nigeria, Court of Benin, Horn Player, ca. 1550–1680, brass & iron, H. 24 3/4 × 11 1/2 × 6 3/4 in. (62.9 × 29.2 × 17.2 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art. #arthistory #art #africanart #africaart #Sculpture

From the museum: “This figure of a court musician playing a side-blown trumpet attests to the technical virtuosity of the Benin bronze-casters. The figure's elaborately textured garment depicts the hide of a leopard, an animal associated with the power of the Oba. Similarly, the strands of coral around his neck and chest reaffirm this musician's status in the Benin court, since coral, like bronze and ivory, is a royal prerogative in Benin.”

And a personal note: as this work was looted by the British army, it should be returned to Nigeria.

Also from the museum: “The British invasion of the capital of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 was part of a campaign waged from 1892 through 1902 to forcibly bring most of the inland territory of modern-day Nigeria under British rule. With the British conquest of Benin City, Oba Ovonramwen was exiled to Calabar and soldiers plundered the palace. The brutality of the removal of its contents has forever decoupled altars dedicated to each individual oba dating from 1300 to Benin’s conquest with the specific works conceived to commemorate them. Directly following the military action some 200 Benin artifacts were given to the British Museum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs while others were sold on the international art market. In addition to dealers and private collectors the major clientele at this time were newly established ethnographic museums in the West. Following Ovonramwen’s death in 1913, his son Eweka II was restored to the office within a British protectorate and prioritized a renewal of artistic patronage in Benin City. Subsequent to the nineteenth century dispersal of Benin works, awareness of their extraordinary aesthetic power, beauty, and complexity profoundly influenced Black public intellectuals. Notable among these in the U.S. were W.E.B. Dubois, Alain Locke and artists from the Harlem Renaissance on. At the same time, their relegation to ethnographic museums during the colonial era continues to reflect the legacy of their forceful removal and segregation from comparable cultural achievements by Western creators.”

Your art history post for today: by the Ìgùn Ẹ́rọ̀nwwọ̀n (brass-casting guild) artists, Nigeria, Court of Benin, Horn Player, ca. 1550–1680, brass & iron, H. 24 3/4 × 11 1/2 × 6 3/4 in. (62.9 × 29.2 × 17.2 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art. #arthistory #art #africanart #africaart #Sculpture

From the museum: “This figure of a court musician playing a side-blown trumpet attests to the technical virtuosity of the Benin bronze-casters. The figure's elaborately textured garment depicts the hide of a leopard, an animal associated with the power of the Oba. Similarly, the strands of coral around his neck and chest reaffirm this musician's status in the Benin court, since coral, like bronze and ivory, is a royal prerogative in Benin.”

And a personal note: as this work was looted by the British army, it should be returned to Nigeria.

Also from the museum: “The British invasion of the capital of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 was part of a campaign waged from 1892 through 1902 to forcibly bring most of the inland territory of modern-day Nigeria under British rule. With the British conquest of Benin City, Oba Ovonramwen was exiled to Calabar and soldiers plundered the palace. The brutality of the removal of its contents has forever decoupled altars dedicated to each individual oba dating from 1300 to Benin’s conquest with the specific works conceived to commemorate them. Directly following the military action some 200 Benin artifacts were given to the British Museum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs while others were sold on the international art market. In addition to dealers and private collectors the major clientele at this time were newly established ethnographic museums in the West. Following Ovonramwen’s death in 1913, his son Eweka II was restored to the office within a British protectorate and prioritized a renewal of artistic patronage in Benin City. Subsequent to the nineteenth century dispersal of Benin works, awareness of their extraordinary aesthetic power, beauty, and complexity profoundly influenced Black public intellectuals. Notable among these in the U.S. were W.E.B. Dubois, Alain Locke and artists from the Harlem Renaissance on. At the same time, their relegation to ethnographic museums during the colonial era continues to reflect the legacy of their forceful removal and segregation from comparable cultural achievements by Western creators.”

Your art history post for today: by the Ìgùn Ẹ́rọ̀nwwọ̀n (brass-casting guild) artists, Nigeria, Court of Benin, Horn Player, ca. 1550–1680, brass & iron, H. 24 3/4 × 11 1/2 × 6 3/4 in. (62.9 × 29.2 × 17.2 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art. #arthistory #art #africanart #africaart #Sculpture

From the museum: “This figure of a court musician playing a side-blown trumpet attests to the technical virtuosity of the Benin bronze-casters. The figure's elaborately textured garment depicts the hide of a leopard, an animal associated with the power of the Oba. Similarly, the strands of coral around his neck and chest reaffirm this musician's status in the Benin court, since coral, like bronze and ivory, is a royal prerogative in Benin.”

And a personal note: as this work was looted by the British army, it should be returned to Nigeria.

Also from the museum: “The British invasion of the capital of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 was part of a campaign waged from 1892 through 1902 to forcibly bring most of the inland territory of modern-day Nigeria under British rule. With the British conquest of Benin City, Oba Ovonramwen was exiled to Calabar and soldiers plundered the palace. The brutality of the removal of its contents has forever decoupled altars dedicated to each individual oba dating from 1300 to Benin’s conquest with the specific works conceived to commemorate them. Directly following the military action some 200 Benin artifacts were given to the British Museum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs while others were sold on the international art market. In addition to dealers and private collectors the major clientele at this time were newly established ethnographic museums in the West. Following Ovonramwen’s death in 1913, his son Eweka II was restored to the office within a British protectorate and prioritized a renewal of artistic patronage in Benin City. Subsequent to the nineteenth century dispersal of Benin works, awareness of their extraordinary aesthetic power, beauty, and complexity profoundly influenced Black public intellectuals. Notable among these in the U.S. were W.E.B. Dubois, Alain Locke and artists from the Harlem Renaissance on. At the same time, their relegation to ethnographic museums during the colonial era continues to reflect the legacy of their forceful removal and segregation from comparable cultural achievements by Western creators.”

Your art history post for today: by the Ìgùn Ẹ́rọ̀nwwọ̀n (brass-casting guild) artists, Nigeria, Court of Benin, Horn Player, ca. 1550–1680, brass & iron, H. 24 3/4 × 11 1/2 × 6 3/4 in. (62.9 × 29.2 × 17.2 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art. #arthistory #art #africanart #africaart #Sculpture

From the museum: “This figure of a court musician playing a side-blown trumpet attests to the technical virtuosity of the Benin bronze-casters. The figure's elaborately textured garment depicts the hide of a leopard, an animal associated with the power of the Oba. Similarly, the strands of coral around his neck and chest reaffirm this musician's status in the Benin court, since coral, like bronze and ivory, is a royal prerogative in Benin.”

And a personal note: as this work was looted by the British army, it should be returned to Nigeria.

Also from the museum: “The British invasion of the capital of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 was part of a campaign waged from 1892 through 1902 to forcibly bring most of the inland territory of modern-day Nigeria under British rule. With the British conquest of Benin City, Oba Ovonramwen was exiled to Calabar and soldiers plundered the palace. The brutality of the removal of its contents has forever decoupled altars dedicated to each individual oba dating from 1300 to Benin’s conquest with the specific works conceived to commemorate them. Directly following the military action some 200 Benin artifacts were given to the British Museum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs while others were sold on the international art market. In addition to dealers and private collectors the major clientele at this time were newly established ethnographic museums in the West. Following Ovonramwen’s death in 1913, his son Eweka II was restored to the office within a British protectorate and prioritized a renewal of artistic patronage in Benin City. Subsequent to the nineteenth century dispersal of Benin works, awareness of their extraordinary aesthetic power, beauty, and complexity profoundly influenced Black public intellectuals. Notable among these in the U.S. were W.E.B. Dubois, Alain Locke and artists from the Harlem Renaissance on. At the same time, their relegation to ethnographic museums during the colonial era continues to reflect the legacy of their forceful removal and segregation from comparable cultural achievements by Western creators.”

Your art history post for today: by the Ìgùn Ẹ́rọ̀nwwọ̀n (brass-casting guild) artists, Nigeria, Court of Benin, Horn Player, ca. 1550–1680, brass & iron, H. 24 3/4 × 11 1/2 × 6 3/4 in. (62.9 × 29.2 × 17.2 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art. #arthistory #art #africanart #africaart #Sculpture

From the museum: “This figure of a court musician playing a side-blown trumpet attests to the technical virtuosity of the Benin bronze-casters. The figure's elaborately textured garment depicts the hide of a leopard, an animal associated with the power of the Oba. Similarly, the strands of coral around his neck and chest reaffirm this musician's status in the Benin court, since coral, like bronze and ivory, is a royal prerogative in Benin.”

And a personal note: as this work was looted by the British army, it should be returned to Nigeria.

Also from the museum: “The British invasion of the capital of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 was part of a campaign waged from 1892 through 1902 to forcibly bring most of the inland territory of modern-day Nigeria under British rule. With the British conquest of Benin City, Oba Ovonramwen was exiled to Calabar and soldiers plundered the palace. The brutality of the removal of its contents has forever decoupled altars dedicated to each individual oba dating from 1300 to Benin’s conquest with the specific works conceived to commemorate them. Directly following the military action some 200 Benin artifacts were given to the British Museum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs while others were sold on the international art market. In addition to dealers and private collectors the major clientele at this time were newly established ethnographic museums in the West. Following Ovonramwen’s death in 1913, his son Eweka II was restored to the office within a British protectorate and prioritized a renewal of artistic patronage in Benin City. Subsequent to the nineteenth century dispersal of Benin works, awareness of their extraordinary aesthetic power, beauty, and complexity profoundly influenced Black public intellectuals. Notable among these in the U.S. were W.E.B. Dubois, Alain Locke and artists from the Harlem Renaissance on. At the same time, their relegation to ethnographic museums during the colonial era continues to reflect the legacy of their forceful removal and segregation from comparable cultural achievements by Western creators.”