Provenance

4 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.

Purchase

1930 (approximate) to 1935

The object was purchased by Louis Carré and Charles Alfred Marius Ratton with its destination in Paris.

Purchase

January 17, 1938

The object was purchased by the Cleveland Museum of Art from Louis Carré through M. Knoedler & Co. from New York City to Cleveland.

Institution data

Cleveland Museum of Art

The data was downloaded via a public data access of the institution.

Last updated: 2021-02-13

Language: english

Institution field	Value
accession_number object id	1938.5
id object id	117894
title designation	Idiophone/Staff (ahianmwẹn-ọrọ)
digital_description description
tombstone description	Idiophone/Staff (ahianmwẹn-ọrọ), possibly 1800s. Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, Ẹdo peoples, members of the Igun Eronmwon (royal brasscasters) guild. Copper alloy; overall: 36.2 x 9.9 cm (14 1/4 x 3 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, James Albert Ford Memorial Fund 1938.5
wall_description description	Courtiers, priests, and senior chiefs strike instruments like this during the Ugie Ọrọ festival. The long-legged metal bird refers to the 16th-century ruler Ọba Ẹsigie. Wings outstretched with long, textured feathers, it is the <em>ahianmwẹn-ọrọ</em> (bird of prophecy). It stares outward, a likely magical substance clenched in its beak. Such a bird prophesied Ẹsigie’s defeat and death during the Idah War (about 1515–17), leading his people to resist fighting for him. When Ẹsigie triumphed, bronze bird effigies were beaten for days on end throughout the year. This punished the false avian prophet and shamed the cowardly men.
dimensions/diameter/width dimensions
dimensions/overall/depth dimensions
dimensions/overall/height dimensions	0.362
dimensions/overall/width dimensions	0.099
measurements dimensions	Overall: 36.2 x 9.9 cm (14 1/4 x 3 7/8 in.)
type object type	Sculpture
creation_date date made	possibly 1800s
creation_date_earliest date made	1800
creation_date_latest date made	1899
technique production technique	Copper alloy
creditline prior source	James Albert Ford Memorial Fund
provenance/0/date provenance	possibly 1800s
provenance/0/description provenance	Commissioned from the Igun Eronmwon
provenance/1/date provenance	c.1857-1897
provenance/1/description provenance	By descent to Ọba Ovọnramwẹn (Ovọnramwẹn Nogbaisi, [c. 1857–1914; r. 1888–97], Royal Palace, Benin City
provenance/2/date provenance	1897
provenance/2/description provenance	Brought to Europe following the Siege of Benin
provenance/3/date provenance	c. 1929-1932
provenance/3/description provenance	(Fosters & Co., London or France, probably sold to Louis Carré and/or Charles Ratton)
provenance/4/date provenance	by at least 1935
provenance/4/description provenance	(Louis Carré, Paris, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, January 17, 1938)
provenance/5/date provenance	1938-
provenance/5/description provenance	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
provenance/6/description provenance
provenance/7/date provenance
provenance/7/description provenance
provenance/8/date provenance
provenance/8/description provenance
culture ethnic attribution	Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, Ẹdo peoples, members of the Igun Eronmwon (royal brasscasters) guild
collection department and institution	African Art
current_location department and institution	108A Sub-Saharan
department department and institution	African Art
fun_fact notes
exhibitions/current/0/description exhibition history
exhibitions/current/0/id exhibition history
exhibitions/current/0/opening_date exhibition history
exhibitions/current/0/title exhibition history
exhibitions/current/1/description exhibition history
exhibitions/current/1/id exhibition history
exhibitions/current/1/opening_date exhibition history
exhibitions/current/1/title exhibition history
exhibitions/legacy exhibition history	Knoedlers, NY, Exhibition of Bronzes and Ivories from the Ancient Kingdom of Benin, November 25-December 4, 1935, cat. no. 28, fig. 28.<br>CMA 1937: Ivories and Bronzes from the Ancient Kingdom of Benin, cat. #28.<br>Seattle, WA, Seattle Art Museum, The Bird in Art, June 6-August 12, 1956.<br>Oberlin, OH, Allen Art Museum, Baldwin Lectures of Mr. Roy Sieber, March 5-March 31, 1972.
citations/0/citation bibliography	Foote, Helen S. "Two Bronzes from Benin." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 25, no. 3 (1938): 48-50.
citations/0/page_number bibliography	Mentioned: p. 50; illustrated p. 48
citations/0/url bibliography
citations/1/citation bibliography	Lane, James W. "Current Exhibitions." <em>Parnassus </em>Vol. 7, no. VII (December 1935): 26-31, 35.
citations/1/page_number bibliography	Reproduced: p. 31.
citations/1/url bibliography
citations/2/citation bibliography	"Au Cleveland Museum of Art." <em>Mouseion. </em>(April 1938) 13-14.
citations/2/page_number bibliography	Mentioned: p. 13
citations/2/url bibliography
citations/3/citation bibliography	Petridis, Constantine. "A World of Great Art for Everyone." In <em>Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display</em>. Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Christa Clarke, 104-121. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011.
citations/3/page_number bibliography	Mentioned: p. 113, 119
citations/3/url bibliography
citations/4/citation bibliography	<em>Bronzes and Ivories from the Old Kingdom of Benin: Exhibition from November 25 to December 14, 1935 At the Galleries of M. Knoedler and Company 14 East 57 Street New York City. </em>New York: M. Knoedler and Company, [1935].
citations/4/page_number bibliography	Mentioned: Fig. 28 (illustrated)
citations/4/url bibliography
citations/5/citation bibliography
citations/5/page_number bibliography
citations/5/url bibliography
citations/6/citation bibliography
citations/6/page_number bibliography
citations/6/url bibliography
citations/7/citation bibliography
citations/7/page_number bibliography
share_license_status license	CC0
images/full/filename images	1938.5_full.tif
images/full/filesize images	52916744
images/full/height images	5000
images/full/url images	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1938.5/1938.5_full.tif
images/full/width images	3527
images/print/filename images	1938.5_print.jpg
images/print/filesize images	2845973
images/print/height images	3400
images/print/url images	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1938.5/1938.5_print.jpg
images/print/width images	2398
images/web/filename images	1938.5_web.jpg
images/web/filesize images	196855
images/web/height images	893
images/web/url images	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1938.5/1938.5_web.jpg
images/web/width images	630
url weblink	https://clevelandart.org/art/1938.5
former_accession_numbers/0
former_accession_numbers/1
updated_at	2020-11-12 10:00:21.715000

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