Male figure
date: label: Date
content: Mid-19th century
name: label: Maker
content: Ijo artist
notes: label: Label Text
content: This figure is one of a group of male and female figures from the court of King Ockiya of Brass. Brass was a port in the Niger Delta and a center for the British trade in palm oil. Its name comes from the quantities of brass that were brought in as an important trade currency and commodity. Ockiya was the head of a trading house in the mid-19th century who became so weallthy that he used the title "king." So, he decided to imitate the court of the oba of Benin by commissioning figures in a more naturalistic style than traditionally used by his Ijo peoples. The style of the resulting figures may have been influenced by European ship figureheads. This figure, identified as Kagenga or Kakenga, was described as an ancestor figure. Photographs taken in 1877-1878, show the figure wearing a plant fiber skirt and a number of collar-form amulet necklaces and pendants.
label: Label Text
content: In 1877 to mark the royal family's conversion to Christianity and to quell unrest by militant converts, this figure was given to Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther (the first African bishop of the Church Missionary Society) who removed it to England rather than destroying it.
label: Description
content: Wood standing male figure on rectangular base, with proper left hand curled under the chin, and proper right hand on its chest. Body is dark, while head is lighter, with large, projecting ears and black hair. Genital area is lighter, where figure once had a cache-sexe, as evidenced in archival photograph. Old metal strap repair on base crack.
label: Provenance
content: Unknown sculptor, Nembe-Brass, Nigeria; likely commissioned [1] for King Ockiya (died 1879), Nembe-Brass, Nigeria, by 1876; given to Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther (ca. 1809-1891), Church Mission Society, 1876 or 1877, to commemorate Ockiya’s conversion to Christianity; transferred to Church Mission Society House, Salisbury Square, London, United Kingdom, 1879; acquired under unknown circumstances by James Thomas Hooper (1897-1971), Arundel, United Kingdom, by 1953 [2]; sale, “African, Oceanic, Pre-Columbian, American Indian, and Indian Art,” Sotheby’s, London, May 20, 1964, p. 24, no. 74, to Bernard J. Reis (1895-1978), New York, 1964; donated to the National Museum of African Art, 1965.
label: Provenance
content: [1] According to Allen Wardwell, these royal portrait sculptures were developed during the reign of King Ockiya, basing them on traditions of Ife and Benin. These sculptures would represent himself and members of his family – living and dead. Prior to the reign of King Ockiya, sculpture from the Niger delta region was much more abstract. See: Allen Wardwell, African Sculpture from the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1986).
label: Provenance
content: [2] Documented in James Hooper’s collection in Hooper, J.T. and C.A. Burland. 1953. The Art of Primitive Peoples. London: Fountain Press, no. 62. Beginning in 1957, this figure was exhibited at Hooper’s private museum, the “Totem Museum,” Arundel, England. See: British Pathé, Totem Museum (1957): https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/36649/.
label: Exhibition History
content: Nigerian Tribal Art. The Arts Council, London, 1960 (no. 217, 218, or 219)
label: Exhibition History
content: An Exhibit of Sculpture. Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, June 1-15, 1958
label: Published References
content: Blier, Suzanne Preston. 1988. "Melville J. Herskovits and the Arts of Ancient Dahomey." Res, 16, p. 136, no. 12. (engraving from D'Albeca 1895)
label: Published References
content: Echeruo, Michael J.C. 1977. Victorian Lagos: Aspects of Nineteenth Century Lagos Life. London: Macmillan. (field photo with Crowther).
label: Published References
content: McKenzie, P.R. 1976. Inter-religious Encounters in West Africa. Leicester: Studies in Religion, no. 2 (field photo with Crowther, credit CMS, London), no. 4 (museum).
label: Published References
content: Robbins, Warren. 1966. African Art in American Collections. New York: Praeger, p. 156, no. 191.
label: Published References
content: Sotheby's. 1964. Catalogue of African, Oceanic, Pre-Columbian and Indian Art. Auction catalogue (May 20). London, p. 24, no. 74 (not illustrated).
label: Published References
content: British Pathé, Totem Museum (1957): https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/36649/
label: Published References
content: Hooper, J.T. and C.A. Burland. 1953. The Art of Primitive Peoples. London: Fountain Press, no. 62.
label: Published References
content: Church Mission Society, "Two Great Events," Eastward Ho! 40 (November 1930). Church Missionary Society Archive. Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham.
label: Published References
content: Charles F. Fison. A Manual for Stewards at Missionary Loan Exhibitions (1899)
label: Published References
content: D'Albeca, Alexandre L. 1895. La France au Dahomey. Paris: Hachette, p. 17. (engraving)
label: Published References
content: D'Albeca, Alexandre L. 1894. "Au Dahomey." Tour du Monde, pt. 2, p. 113. (engraving of "fetiche," identified as by Bazin, after a photograph)
label: Published References
content: Jesse Page, Samuel Crowther: The Slave Boy Who Became Bishop of the Niger (London: S.W. Partridge & Co., 189?). Church Missionary Society Archive. Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham.
label: Published References
content: Church Mission Society, The CMS Juvenile Instructor (1873-1879). Church Missionary Society Archive, Part 12 (The CMS Juvenile Instructor, 1842-1890, Children’s World, 1891-1900, and The Round World, 1901-1958). Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham.
label: Published References
content: Church Mission Society, "The Gospel on the Niger," The Church Missionary Gleaner 4, Issue 43 (July 1877). Church Missionary Society Archive. Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham.
label: Content Statement
content: As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
label: Image Requests
content: High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
place: label: Geography
content: Brass, Niger River Delta, Nigeria
title: label: Object Name
content: <I>kakenga</I>
topic: label: Topic
content: Leadership
label: Topic
content: Ancestral
label: Topic
content: Male use
label: Topic
content: male
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African Art Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Bernard J. Reis
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Object number
content: 65-6-1
objectType: label: Type
content: Figure
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Wood, pigment, metal
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 163.8 x 43 x 29.5 cm (64 1/2 x 16 15/16 x 11 5/8 in.)