Superbe fragment d'une plaque en bronze, Edo, Royaume de Benin, Nigeria, XVIe - XVIIe siècles

Ancienne collection allemande, acquis vers 1970

Reproduit dans :
Schaedler, Earth and Ore, 2500 Years of African Art in Terra-cotta and Metal, 1997 : 226, n° 433

The background of the plaque which once surrounded the figure is missing, except between the arms and legs - visible in the catalogue illustration. The figure is in good condition, with a single crack running along the waist just below the first fold of the draped skirt. The crack begins on the figure's waist a few milimetres away from the background and ends just before the hip ornament.
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Isolé du cadre rectangulaire de la plaque dont il émergeait en haut relief, le personnage s'impose, majestueux.
Comme la majorité des plaques qui ornaient les piliers des palais de Benin City, l'iconographie exalte la puissance du royaume aux XVI^e – XVII^e siècles. Le dignitaire porte les insignes réservés à son haut rang : collier odigba  en perles de corail dont les rangs multiples s'élèvent jusqu'au menton, long collier pectoral, bracelets et chevillières perlés. Selon l'attitude conventionnelle, la main gauche est posée sur le pan ouvragé de la ceinture maintenant la jupe brodée à plusieurs épaisseurs. Patine brune, nuancée, avec traces de pigments ocre rouge dans les creux.

cf. Sotheby's (Paris, 5 décembre 2007, n° 52), pour la plaque exposée au British Museum en 1897 et provenant du Museum für Völkerkunde de Vienne, offrant la même iconographie.

Lors de l'expédition punitive menée en 1897 sur Benin City, les Britanniques découvrirent, rassemblées dans un même lieu, les plaques entassées à même le sol. Nombre d'entre elles entrèrent donc endommagées dans les collections occidentales, et parfois même, comme ici, à l'état de fragment. cf. Plankensteiner (2007 : 241) pour un autre fragment représentant un dignitaire, conservé à l'Art Institute de Chicago (inv. 1933.782). Ici, c'est paradoxalement son état de fragment qui confère à l'œuvre toute sa dimension sculpturale.

 

A superb bronze fragment from a plaque, Edo, Kingdom of Benin, Nigeria, 16^th - 17^th century

Isolated from its rectangular frame, from which it once emerged in high relief, this fragment appears particularly majestic as a free-standing figure.

As with the majority of the plaques which once decorated the pillars of the palaces Benin City, the iconography here exalts the power of the kingdom in the 16th-17th centuries. The dignitary's coral bead odigba collar, which reaches as high as the chin, his long pectoral ornament and his bracelets and beaded anklets all indicate his high standing. Following sculptural convention, the left hand is placed on the open side of the belt which holds the heavily pleated skirt.

Cf. Sotheby's (Paris, 5 December, 2007, lot 52), for a similar plaque exhibited at the British Museum in 1897 and subsequently in the collection of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Vienna.

During the 1897 Punitive Expedition to Benin City, the British discovered the bronze plaques gathered together and piled upon the ground. Having seemingly been discarded, a number of the plaques which entered Western collections did so either in a damaged state, or as here, as fragments. Cf. Plankensteiner (2007: 241) for another fragment of a dignitary from the collection of the Art Institute of Chicargo (inv. no. 1933.782). Paradoxically, the fragmentary condition of this plaque greatly enhances its sculptural quality.