Collections: African Art

Figure of a Hornblower. Nigeria, Royal Court of Benin. Edo artist, circa 1500–1550. Copper alloy, 24 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 6 in. (62.2 x 21.6 x 15.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair Bradley Martin, 55.87

Accounts from the nineteenth century describe the placement of figurative sculptures on the ancestral altars in the royal court of Benin that were dedicated to deceased kings (obas). Only ten examples are known of horn players such as this. Like a similar figure in the British Museum, the hornblower in Brooklyn's collection wears a conical hat that once had a representation of a feather on the left side (now broken off). He wears a garment that covers only the front of his torso and an elaborately wrapped kilt with a projection on the left side. The garment has geometric patterns as well as what are probably floral designs that are rare in African textiles. The circle with four projecting leaves denotes the leaves associated with Olokun, the Benin god of the waters, and also the four cardinal directions. The kilt also has representations of leopard heads, human heads, and what appear at first glance to be severed arms. Closer examination, however, shows the arms terminating in a triangle and two oblong forms that represent a highly stylized elephant's head with trunk and tusks. The elephant's trunk has finger-like muscular projections at the end that allow it to grasp objects, much like a hand.