Head

Benin kings employed bronze memorial heads to signify the strength, permanence, and prosperity of their royal line and kingdom. Works of this sort are also said to honor the ancient artist Iguehse of Ife, who purportedly introduced bronze casting to the Benin court in the fourteenth century. Benin chiefs were permitted to commission wooden heads, while terra-cotta heads were reserved for members of the bronze-casters guild, thus emphasizing the ritual and technological importance of clay in their work. Terra-cotta heads also featured centrally in coronation rites. A suggested chronology of bronze heads characterizes the earliest as thinly cast with relatively naturalistic features, the necks encircled by simulated coral beads, and the stylized hair in patterned rows. Later heads were larger and thicker. The formal features of this head suggest that it dates to the mid-eighteenth century.