Tusk

1850-1888

Edo, Kingdom of Benin
Nigeria
Coastal West Africa

Benin royal altars have been embellished with matched pairs of carved elephant tusks since the 18th century, when ivory—a commodity traditionally controlled by the Benin king—dramatically increased in value. In the mid-19th century King Adolo (reigned about 1850–88) commissioned this tusk and 15 others for the altar of his father, Osemwende. It was anchored on a brass head like the one displayed nearby, and prominently features fish-legged oba (king) imagery in honor of the 15th-century ruler Ewuare.

Status: On View, Gallery 137
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Edo
Title: Tusk
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.: 1850–1888
Medium: Ivory
Dimensions: 150.5 × 195.6 × 12.7 cm (59 1/4 × 77 × 5 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin E. Hokin
Reference Number: 1976.523
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/51809/manifest.json

Evan Maurer, “A Carved Ivory Tusk from Benin,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 71, 3 (1976), pp. 6–9.
Art Institute of Chicago, Telling Stories in Art: The Story of the Exhibition and How It Was Created (Art Institute of Chicago, 1997), pp. 54–61.
Barbara Winston Blackmun, “Icons and Emblems in Ivory: An Altar Tusk from the Palace of Old Benin,” African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 23, 2 (1997), pp. 148–163, no. 24, figs. 6–8, 10–12 (ill.).
Constantine Petridis et al., Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2020), cat. no. 32, pp. 92-95 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, Heads of State, Seats of Power, September 2–November 7, 1995.
Museum fur Volkerkunde, Vienna (organizer), Benin –Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria, May 9–September 3, 2007; traveled to Paris, Musee du quai Branly, Oct. 2, 2007–Jan. 6, 2008, Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum-Staatliche Museen, Feb. 7–May 25, 2008, Art Institute of Chicago, July 10-Sept. 21, 2008.

Commissioned by Oba Adolo (r. 1848-88) mid-late 19th century, Benin City, Kingdom of Benin [B. Blackmun 1997, pp. 149-151]; by descent to Oba Ovonramwen (r. 1888-97, died 1914), Benin City, Kingdom of Benin, before 1897; possibly taken during the British military raid. Edwin Hokin (died 1990) and Grace E. Hokin (died 2009), Chicago, Ill., probably by 1970 [date suggested by an unattributed note in curatorial file]; given to the Art Institute, 1976.

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