Plaque: Oba and attendants

Dateca. 1550 - 1650

Label TextProcessions of the Oba and his retinue were a spectacle of sight and sound. Here, the Oba is confidently posed in the center, weighed down with weapons and regalia, including a staff with rattling bells. A Portuguese soldier, and the king's attendants bearing shields and swords, stands nearby. The harp player in the upper right corner may indicate that this is a rare appearance by Oba Ewuakpe, remembered as a weak ruler who consoled himself by continually listening to harp music.

Eight men are gathered tightly together, as if part of a time capsule from a palace where the royal regalia was visually and acoustically complex. They take us back five hundred years to a lively event that occurred in a kingdom at the height of its productivity and trade. Details of the costumes and instruments speak for each of the men, but the men's facial expressions and individual identities remain remote. At the center, symbolically larger than life, is the Oba—the king—around whom all activity revolves. This plaque leads us to consider the other Benin art in the museum's collection, all of which displays the intricate details that this kingdom is famous for. The Benin kingdom is also renowned for the longevity of its royal lineage, still thriving after a thousand years, with court officials continuing to enact processes of art and ritual that originated centuries ago. With the assistance of a researcher who has spent many years in Benin, we'll be able to see, hear about and watch the dedication that maintains court procedures.

Object number81.17.496

ProvenanceTaken from the royal palace of Benin City during the Benin Expedition of 1897 by Captain H.A. Child, Captain of the Niger Coast Protectorate Yacht Ivy; sold to Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881-1939), 1935; sold to John Wise (1902-1981), New York (date unknown); sold to Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1961; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981

In the Oba's palace, there is never silence.

Edo saying

Exhibition HistoryCleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection, July 10 - Sept. 1, 1968 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Oct. 10 - Dec. 1, 1968). Text by William Fagg. Cat. no. 145 (as Plaque with Figures). Los Angeles, California, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, African Art in Motion: Icon and Act, Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 1974 (Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, May 5 - Sept. 22, 1974). Text by Robert Farris Thompson. No cat. no., pp. 114-5, reproduced pl. 150 (as plaque). Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, African Panoplies: Art for Rulers, Traders, Hunters, and Priests, Apr. 21 - Aug. 14, 1988. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Documents International: Reflections in the Mirror: A World of Identity, Apr. 23, 1998 - June 20, 1999. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Benin Art: Collecting Concerns, Sept. 15, 2021 - Aug. 28, 2023.Published ReferencesBridges, Nichole N., ed. Narrative Wisdom and African Arts, exh. cat. Saint Louis: Saint Louis Art Museum, with Hirmer, 2024; pp. 134, fig. 109, 137.

Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

Dimensions18 1/2 x 15 1/2 x 4 in. (47 x 39.4 x 10.2 cm)

MediumBrass