History

Conflicts over succession weakened the Edo Kingdom and caused it to lose some of its military, political, and economic power. At the same time, the British imperial ambition for control over the West African markets and territories led to increased pressure on the Oba to open the Edo Kingdom to ‘free trade’ with British commercial firms. The invasion of Benin by the British troops in 1897 resulted in the removal and exile of the reigning Oba Ovonramwen, who was replaced by the  British overrule.

Shortly After the death of Ovonramwen in exile in 1914, his son was crowned Oba Eweka II and reigned with limited powers under British supervision. Eweka II rebuilt the royal palace, restored the craft guilds, and set up the Benin Arts and Crafts Council to produce artworks for new external markets. After the Nigerian independence in 1960, the Edo Kingdom was incorporated into the Nigerian state. Successive Obas from the kingdom’s ruling dynasty have retained their title and many cultural practices, so the monarchy and its court rituals still provide a political and cultural focus in Benin City for the Edo-speaking people.

This was the period of Benin’s most significant territorial expansion through military conquest. It was also when Benin made contact with the Portuguese merchant adventurers on the coast and began to trade with them. The Portuguese merchants introduced new goods, such as Indian and European cloths, coral beads, and brass currency bracelets, which were incorporated into works of royal and courtly regalia. 

Guilds of specialist craftspeople controlled by the palace produced many highly accomplished works for the Oba and his court. This art was central to the ceremonial life of the Edo Kingdom. Craftspeople created works to mark rites of passage such as birth, marriage, and death, celebrate annual festivals, honor and commemorate royal ancestors, and celebrate the coronation of a new Oba. Therefore, surviving works reflect this powerful empire's cultural and political history.

Sculpted heads cast in copper alloys are still important items for the commemorative altars dedicated to the royal ancestors. Each new Oba must commission a shrine to honor and commemorate his predecessor to legitimize his own succession. The heads are made in pairs and placed on either side of an altar, along with sacred rattle staffs, bells, and other significant cast figures. Most cast heads have a hole in the top, holding an elephant tusk richly carved with relief images relating to the deceased Oba’s royal authority and personal achievement. 

In Edo philosophy, the head is the seat of a guiding spiritual force associated with a person’s destiny and judgment, as well as his or her knowledge, intelligence, character, and leadership. Stylized commemorative altar heads, therefore, make powerful visual references to past Obas' spiritual authority and success. The physical and spiritual strength of the reigning Oba is connected with the well-being of the entire kingdom, and royal ceremonies are performed in Benin City each year to strengthen the Oba spiritually. The style of cast altar heads changed over time. Art historians have developed a timeline that recognizes eight stylistic variations of heads dating from around 1400, with both constant and innovative design details. National Museums Scotland’s collection includes a later commemorative head that dates stylistically from the 18th to 19th century. It can be dated by the presence of winged elements on each side of the cap and a flanged base richly decorated with royal symbols of leopard, mudfish, and the heads of sacrificial animals. Like the older style heads, details include multiple rows of coral beads around the neck and a coral bead cap, worn as symbols of kingship to the present.

The Ogisos were said to have been replaced by the current dynasty when Prince Oranmiyan from the neighboring kingdom of Ife was invited to take the throne at Benin. Oranmiyan soon returned to Ife, but he had left a son who ended up taking over the new title of Oba when he was crowned as the highest political and religious authority in the Edo Kingdom.