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Plaque

A work made of brass.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of brass.

Date:

16th/17th century

Artist:

Edo, Kingdom of Benin
Nigeria
Coastal West Africa

About this artwork

During the 16th century, coastal trade made brass amply available in the Kingdom of Benin. King Esigie (reigned about 1504–about 1550) exploited the inflow by commissioning his court’s brass casters to make commemorative plaques for his palace. The warrior depicted here wears a coral-studded cap and collar indicating his rank. The horseshoe shape in the upper left corner represents a copper or brass ring known as a manilla. Manufactured in Europe, such rings were used as currency among the Benin people.

Status

On View, Gallery 137

Department

Arts of Africa

Culture

Edo

Title

Plaque

Place

Nigeria (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1501–1700

Medium

Brass

Dimensions

33.9 × 28.8 × 4.7 cm (13 3/8 × 11 3/8 × 1 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Samuel P. Avery Fund

Reference Number

1933.782

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/15457/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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