Description
Benin Bronze Oba Head
Benin Art is royal art, made to glorify the king, or Oba, who is considered to have divine ancestry.
The Obas and heads/busts like this one were kept on altars in royal enclaves.
The Benin Bronzes come from the ancient city of Benin, the historic capital of the Kingdom of Benin, a major city-state in West Africa from the medieval period. Benin became part of the British Empire from 1897 to 1960 and is now within the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Today the modern city of Benin (in Edo State) is the home of the current ruler of the Kingdom of Benin, His Royal Majesty Oba Ewuare II. Many of the rituals and ceremonies associated with the historic Kingdom of Benin continue to be performed today.
This particular bronze is of the Benin king, Oba Eweka II. He was the son of Ovonramwen (ruled 1888–1897) and was deposed by the British and exiled to Calabar following the British punitive expedition in Benin City in 1897. Oba Eweka I started the reign of the Obas which was formally refered to as (Ogiso).
Ovonramwen died in January 1914, and Aiguobasinwin Ovonramwen was enthroned as the Oba of Benin on 24 July 1914.
He took the name Eweka II after the 13th-century founder of the dynasty and the first Oba of Benin Eweka I.
Eweka II rebuilt the royal palace, which had been destroyed and looted by the British in 1897. He also reestablished the traditional structure of the kingdom. The royal coral regalia of Ovonramwen seized by the British was returned. Eweka II also restored the craft guilds, commissioning objects to replace those looted by the British, and started the Benin Arts and Crafts School.
He died in February 1933
