Male Figure
date: label: Accession Date
content: 28 Aug 1992
label: Collection Date
content: 1955
name: label: Donor Name
content: Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden
notes: label: Notes
content: Provenience undocumented (Benin, Nigeria). Exhibited at the Art Center Association, Louisville, KY, April-May 1955. Exhibited at Bruce Museum, Greenwhich, CT, April - June 1958. Exhibited at D'Arcy Galleries of New York "Magic and Primitive Art", April 7 - May 3, 1958. Joseph Hirshhorn purchased it from D'Arcy Gallery in 5/16/59 to 5/17/66.) Vetted by William Fagg and Philip Dark. Fagg believed this to be a modern forgery made by Benin or Nigerian craftsmen between the mid-1940s and mid-1950s. Description: brass male figure wears elaborate helmet, short-sleeved armor over knee-length skirt, boots, standing on hollow square brass base than fits over wooden interior. Close-fitting helmet has erect, ridged finial & rising curved attachments. Almond-shaped eyes, wide nose, full lips. Lower helm extends past chin with raised horizontal pattern. Armor & skirt have open-work diamond pattern, decorated with bells, tassels, human masks. Right arm at right angle holding weapon with pointed blade pierced with 2 rows of holes. Handle has braided loop. Other arm extends & hand placed on top of ridged staff. Condition: base's wooden interior old & cracked.
label: Notes
content: SI Archives acc. 86-136, box 1
label: Record Last Modified
content: 28 Nov 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Benin City, Edo State / Kingdom of Benin, Nigeria, Africa
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Edo
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 370312
label: USNM Number
content: E428167-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Sculpture
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 32 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 14.5 cm
label: Height - Object
content: 12 cm