Galerie Peter Herrmann

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Ancient Art from Africa - Benin & Ife
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Gefäß mit Deckel

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Thermoluminescence - Expertise
Labor Ralf Kotalla
Wissenschaftliches Laboratorium - Museo d'Arte e Scienza

Vessel
Benin, Nigeria
around 1580
Bronze
28 cm
icon
Expertise Milano

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Vessel:
 

The background consists of a floral pattern, interlace and scaled ornamentation. Three small leopards support the base, and one sits on the lid. A snake serves as the curving handle, and a martial-looking Portuguese man stands front center, holding what appears to be a snake torn in two – the front end in his left hand, the tail end in his right. Two eyelets protrude from opposite sides of the upper curvature so that the vessel can be hung. These show no signs of wear, suggesting that the vessel more likely stood as regalia than hung for use. A nicely evolved patina is visible under magnification. The condition is very good.

According to oral history, the vessel was a gift from a Nigerian diplomat to a colleague from The Gambia, in whose possession it remained for several decades until it was purchased, along with several other items, by a Banjul-based German businessman. When giving the gift, the Nigerian owner told his colleague that the vessel was once used to store gunpowder.


Detailansicht


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Similar objects:  


Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
  Portugese
Leipzig
 
British Museum
 
Smithsonian Institution
 
Pitt Rivers
 
Die Altertümer von Benin. Felix von Luschan. 1919  
 
Illustration:
Barbara PLANKENSTEINER (Hg.): Benin. Könige und Rituale. Höfische Kunst aus Nigeria, Wien 2007, S. 424-426.
Die Altertümer von Benin. Felix von Luschan. 1919. S 416, Tafel 88

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