
Asigbe (bolts) are used to secure doors. The ones shown in this grouping are carved from ivory, which indicates they were used at the royal palace of the Ọba.
While some bolts are intricately carved in ivory by members of the Igbesanmwan, others are simpler in appearance. Nevadomsky (in Plankensteiner, 2007, p.290 ) argued that simple ivory bolts predate the more elaborately carved examples.
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