Brooklyn Museum: Arts of Africa and the Pacific Islands: Figure of a Hornblower

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Figure of a Hornblower

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 in addition to likely floral designs, which are rare in African textiles. The circle with four projecting leaves denotes Olokun, the Benin god of the waters, and 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.

Culture: Edo
Medium: Copper alloy
Place Made: Benin, Edo State, Nigeria
Dates: 16th or 17th century
Dimensions: 24 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 6 in. (62.2 x 21.6 x 15.2 cm)
Collections: Arts of Africa and the Pacific Islands
Museum Location: This item is on view in African Galleries, 1st Floor
Accession Number: 55.87
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection
Image: Front, 55.87_front_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

Catalogue Description: Blowing a horn or flute with his right hand, his left arm is truncated. He wears a netted cap with chevron design decorated with a feather. Around his neck are two collars: one of coral, the other of cowrie shells and teeth. He wears a kind of vest decorated with an interlocking design and supported by a strap around his neck. This is attached at the waist to a skirt which is drawn up at the side in a point. A belt is tied in a knot around the waist, and a lower belt with tassels connecting the skirt at the back. The over-skirt has a pattern of human faces, leopard faces, arms, half-moons, and other leaf forms. He wears five bracelets on his right hand. There is an undershirt exposed on the left side which has an interlocking design. The lower border of the outfit has a guilloche pattern. Condition: Generally good although the left arm is truncated just below the shoulder and the horn or flute is broken off at both ends. The tip of the feather on the cap is broken off, too. Judging from the surface which is remarkable in that it is free from corrosion products or patination, it has been kept mostly or entirely in protected places.

Collections: Arts of Africa and the Pacific Islands: Figure of a Hornblower