Uhunmwu-Elao (commemorative head of an oba)

Artists

Description

This work is one of the bronze, ivory and wooden artworks broadly known as the “Benin Bronzes."

Dimensions

22.7 x 21 x 23 cm (8 15/16 x 8 1/4 x 9 1/16 in.) with base: 31.3 x 24.4 x 23 cm (12 5/16 x 9 5/8 x 9 1/16 in.)

Provenance

The royal palace, Benin City; probably taken by British forces during the British colonial military campaign on Benin City, 1897. [1] [Louis Carré, Paris], sold; [through Knoedler & Co., New York]; to Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, New York, January 3, 1936, gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1937 Notes [1] While we do not have documentation of this work’s presence in Benin City in 1897, due to the nature of this object, it is unlikely that it left at any other time. Additionally, the location of the work after 1897 is unknown until it was sold by the French dealer Louis Carré through the New York dealership Knoedler & Co. in 1936. The sculpture has an export stamp from France, suggesting it was there for an unknown period prior its export to the United States.