Memorial Head of an Oba (king)
date: label: Accession Date
content: 19 Jan 1966
name: label: Donor Name
content: Office Of Alien Property
notes: label: Notes
content: Provenience undocumented (Benin City, Nigeria). 18th century date based on chronology for Benin bronzes established by William Fagg and Philip Dark. In the collection of Baron Eduard von der Heydt (also known as Edward von der Heydt and Ratio, S.A..). Head seized by the Office of Alien Property, Department of Justice, during World War II (the owner was a German national and classified as an enemy alien.) The memorial head had been on deposit in the Buffalo Museum of Science until it was transferred to the custody of the Office of Alien Property in 1964 and transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1966. Exhibited in NMNH “African Voices” from 1999 - present.
label: Notes
content: From African Voices exhibit: "A carved ivory tusk depicting the glories of a king's reign would have been placed in the opening on the top of this brass memorial head."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 12 Mar 2023
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: 251214
label: USNM Number
content: E402858-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Sculpture
physicalDescription: label: Height
content: 27.5 cm