Provenance
Institution data
| Institution field | Value |
|---|---|
irn object id | 36320 |
Main Title designation object type | Hemispherical head |
Materials and Technique material | cast bronze |
Dimensions dimensions | 14.5 x 17.8 x x cm |
Date Created date made | unknown (before 1897, and possibly 16th century) |
Creators producer | Yoruba people, Ijebu kingdom |
Place Of Creation production place | Nigeria |
Provenance provenance | probably Ijebu kingdom; with Royal Palace, Benin; with William Downing Webster (1868–1913), Bicester, Great Britain; from whom bought by Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (1827–1900), 13 August 1898 (£6.13); by descent to his son Alexander Pitt-Rivers (1855–1927), Oxford; by descent to his son George Pitt-Rivers (1890–1966), Oxford; by inheritance to his wife Stella Pitt-Rivers, Oxford; with George Ortiz (1927–2013), Geneva; with Everett Rassiga (1922–2003), New York; from whom bought by the Australian National Gallery, Canberra, April 1974 The collecting history of this work of art is partial. The National Gallery of Australia welcomes further information regarding its history of ownership. |
Credit Line accession date | Purchased 1974 |
Exhibited exhibition history | Nigerian Tribal Arts, Arts Council of Great Britain, London 1961, cat.26, as ‘hemispherical bronze head, very thinly cast in a highly conceptual style; the marks over the eyes are links with Benin, but the piece must have been made outside the |
Literature bibliography | Catalogue of the Pitt Rivers museum, Farnham, 1898, vol.5, p.1699, as ‘Benin city’ and ‘Edo’; Lieutenant-General Pitt-Rivers, Antique Works of Art from Benin, London: private printing 1900 (reprinted 1974), plate XXIII, figs.137–38, p.46, illus. b&w; Felix von Luschan, Die Altertümer von Benin, Berlin and Leipzig:De Gruyter1919 (reprinted New York: Hacker Art Books 1968), fig.536, p.364 illus. b&w as ‘bronzekopt in Rushmore, nach P. R. 137/8 ...’; William Fagg, Merveilles de l’Art Nigerien, Paris: E?d. du che?ne 1963, no.69, illus. b&w as ‘Pitt-Rivers Museum, Farham’; Elsy Leuzinger, The Art of Black Africa , London: Studio Vista 1972, K28, pp.168–69, illus. b&w, collection: George Ortiz, Geneva’ |
Accession Number | 74257 |
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