Iconographies

1 annotations

Udahae

Beaded forehead band

See Udahae page

The Udahae is a forehead band made from coral beads and worn by chiefs. Sometimes a white Igan (feather) from the Oɛɣohɔ (vulturine fish eagle) is tucked into the left side of the Udahae. According to Benin oral tradition, the Udahae was introduced by Ọba Ezoti, the first son of Ọba Ewuare I. During his coronation, Ezoti was shot in the forehead with a poisoned arrow. To stop the bleeding, a band of red beads was wrapped around his forehead while he made public appearances. Fourteen days later, he died from his wound. Since then, Benin chiefs have worn the red-beaded Udahae around their foreheads to commemorate the cap used by Ezoti to stop the bleeding (Egharevba 1968, p. 21).

1 annotation

Provenance

4 events

Production

unknown to 1973

The object was produced by Unknown member(s) of the Igun-Ẹrọnmwọn guild in Benin City.

Unknown

February 3, 1897 to December 9, 1973

The object is known to have come into contact with William Harold Ingrams.

Inheritance

1973

The object was inherited by Leila Ingrams through William Harold Ingrams.

Donation

2014

The object was donated by Leila Ingrams to the British Museum with its destination in London.

Institution data

British Museum

The data was transferred directly by the institution.

Last updated: 2025-06-10

Language: english

Institution field	Value
Registration number object id	2014,2011.277
PRN object id	EAF141740
Object Type designation	figure
Description description	Figure; lost-wax cast in brass. Figure holds child in arms. Wears beaded necklace and headdress/hairstyle with coral beads. Figure cut off at waist.
Ethnic name (made by) ethnic attribution	Edo (?)
Date	20thC(early)
Production place production place	Made in: Nigeria~Made in: Benin City (?)
Findspot place collected	Found/Acquired: Africa
Materials material	brass
Technique production technique	lost-wax cast
Dimensions dimensions	Height: 12.00 cm~Width: 7.00 cm~Depth: 7.10 cm~Weight: 324.00 g
Condition condition	Fair; large area of corrosion at back of figure.
Acquisition name (acquisition) provenance	Leila Ingrams
Acquisition name (previous) provenance	Previous owner/ex-collection: Harold Ingrams
Acquisition date accession date	2014.0

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