ID
1876297
Edo designations
English designations
Bracelet
Categories
Personal Adornment
Contextual Objects: Beyond Benin
Location
1 Adesogbe (Plymouth) Road, P.M.B. 1115, Benin City , Edo State
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Bracelet
Bracelet
Bracelet
Bracelet

Iconographies

1 annotations
Ikpigho
Cowrie

Historically, Ikpigho (cowries) were used as a form of currency, and they continue to carry associations with wealth and prosperity. Further strengthening the association between Ikpigho and wealth is the fact that cowries were among the goods imported by European merchants to the kingdom from the 15th century until the 19th century, from as far afield as the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. Together with motifs such as Portuguese heads, cowries became associated with wealth brought from overseas and, therefore, are also associated with Olokun, god of the sea. The white colour of Ikpigho further associates them with Olokun, as well as with joy (Nevadomsky 2007, p. 498).

1 annotation
Ikpigho

Provenance

7 events
Production
unknown to February 22, 1897 (day approximate)
The object was produced by Unknown member(s) of the Igun-Ẹrọnmwọn guild in Benin City.
Looted
February 22, 1897 (day approximate) to June 1899 (year approximate)
The object was looted by Unknown member of the British colonial military campaign on Benin - February 1897 from Benin Kingdom.
Unknown
January 1898 to July 1898
The object is known to have come into contact with Friedrich Erdmann, in Benin City.
Transfer
July 1898 (year approximate)
The object was transferred from Friedrich Erdmann through Bey & Co. from Benin City to Hamburg.
Inheritance
1904
The object was inherited by Alma Erdmann from Friedrich Erdmann in Altona.
Purchase
1905
The object was purchased by the Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin from Alma Erdmann from Altona to Berlin.
Restitution
August 25, 2022
The object was restituted by the Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin to the Omo n'Oba n'Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Ọba of Benin & National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria through Hermann Parzinger and Abba Isa Tijani from Berlin to Nigeria.

Institution data

Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
The data was transferred directly by the institution.
Last updated: 2021-06-14
Language: german
Institution fieldValue
ID
object id
1876297
Sachbegriff
designation
Armring
Titel
designation
Objektref.
description
E 750/1905, Erwerbung: a.) I/116/1905 + b.) I/117/1905: a.) III C 20073-20076, Ethnogr. (Benin) + b.) VIII A 1376-1378, Photogr. eines geschnitzten Bretts (Benin) a.) Frau Erdmann + b. ) Schenkung Dr. Fülleborn, 1905, Frau Erdmann (1904)
Texte Online
description
Online Beschreibung, [Benin_Königreich]
Material / Technik
material
Material: Bronze; Material: Messing; Ausgabe: Bronze
Material / Technik // Alle
material
Bronze, Bronze, Messing
Maße
dimensions
7,60 x 10,40 x 10,40 cm
Objekttyp
object type
Allgemein
Sachbegr. Ausgabe
object type
Armring
Anzahl Teile
object count
1
Datierung
date made
18. Jh.-19. Jh.
Geogr. Bezüge
production place
Benin ( Königreich ); Nigeria ( Land )
Geogr. Bezüge // Alle
production place
Nigeria, Benin
Beteiligte
prior source
Frau Erdmann (1904), Veräußerer
Beteiligte // (Name, Sortierung=kleinste)
prior source
Erdmann <Frau>
Veräußerer
prior source
null
Erwerb. Notiz
provenance
Erwerbung von: Frau Erdmann; Notiz: Rückführung Leipzig; Ausgabe: 18. Jh. - 19. Jh., Auftragsarbeit der Igun Eronmwon oder Gilde der Messinggießer im Königreich Benin; Besitz vor 1897 derzeit unbekannt; vermutlich geplündert im Zusammenhang mit der britischen Eroberung von Benin, 1897; in unbekanntem Besitz nach der Eroberung des Königreichs Benin; erworben von Frau Erdmann, 1905.
Verw. Institution
department and institution
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Erwerb. Datum
accession date
1905
Besitzart
accession method
Eigentum
Erwerbungsart
accession method
Ankauf
Digital Assets
images
III C 20073 b -A.jpg, Repro Digitalisat; III C 20073 b -B.jpg, Repro Digitalisat; III C 20073 b -P.jpg, Repro Digitalisat; III C 20073 a,b.jpg, Repro Digitalisat
Erwerb. Nr.
I/116/1905
Ident. Nr.
III C 20073 b
Ident. Nr. // (Sortiernr.)
0003 C 20073 b
Obj. Status
vorhanden
Sensitive Content

Digital Benin collates digital material from institutions, and some of this material is inherently colonial and contains words, terms and phrases that are inaccurate, derogatory and harmful towards African and African diasporic communities. Catalogue transcriptions, book titles, exhibition titles and museum titles may contain harmful terms. We recognise the potential for the material to cause physical and mental distress as well as evoke strong emotions. Owing to the scale of the collection’s data, a process to implement sensitive-content warnings in the displayed data is still incomplete. The material within the catalogue does not represent Digital Benin’s views. Digital Benin maintains a strong anti-colonial, anti-racist position and affirms its support for centring the humanity of historically marginalised and disenfranchised communities. Read more about the background of this statement here