German Contact Point for Collections from Colonial Contexts: Benin-Bronzes in Germany

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Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt am Main: 12181




Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt am Main: 12181




Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt am Main: 12181

Object description
This information was provided by the German museum where the object is currently located or where it was located prior to restitution.

Object Name	Ceremonial sword
Description	Curved blade, iron, covered with copper sheet, engraved circle with knot ornament. Same ornament on both sides. Handle incomplete, copper overlay broken. Damaged overall. Restoration: Heinrich Scheich "Art forms crucial to status differentiation and religious worship are attributed to Ogiso times, particularly ... the ceremonial sword (ada) .. (14) In Ogiso times the iron ceremonial sword called ada was part of the furnishings of the ancestral altar, where it expressed the power of the ancestors to control the course of events. The Edo believe that iron has the mystical power of ase to insure that whatever proclamations are made will come to pass. In the second dynasty the obas took to making public appearances accompanied by pages carrying the ada, thereby incorporating an ancient Edo sanction into the new royal symbolism. (15). Zu Abb. 11: The ada is carried by pages emada during the public appearances of the oba. It symbolizes his right to take human life. The oba delegates the ada to high ranking chiefs, who may have it carried alongside them in their own domains but not in the palace. 15./16.Jh. "Specific objects, such as ada were sent to vassal lords as emblems of their authority." (18) As an abstract concept Ogun represents the force inherent in metal, a mystical power with the potential to create or destroy. In this capacity, Ogun cannot be artistically represented, except indirectly through those objects in which the power of metal resides, such as ceremonial swords or proclamation staffs. (51) LIT Kat Pitt-Rivers 1976: pl. XVIII, 110 Ben Amos. 1980: The Art of Benin. London
Type	Ceremonial device
Materials	Iron, Copper sheet
Size, Dimensions	Length: 90 cm
Dating of Object

Museum / Collection / Acquisition
This information was provided by the German museum where the object is currently located or where it was located prior to restitution.

Museum	Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Museum Inv.-No	12181
Collector	William Ockelford Oldman; Dealer
Acquisition date	approx. 1910
Circumstances of acquisition	- […]: Samuel George Fenton - […]: William Ockelford Oldman (No. 10272); Purchase for £sd 2.0.0? from S. Fenton - 12.5.1910: Städtisches Völkermuseum, Frankfurt; Purchase from William Ockelford Oldman for £sd 6.0.0

Notes

Current ownership status and location

Status
Date of last status change
Current ownership
Holding institution
Current location

Categorization for the search functions
This information was included by the German Contact Point for Collections from Colonial Contexts and is intended to make the object easier to find in the database.

Object Type	weapon
Materials	metal; iron
Tags

Dataset

ID	1223
last Change	2022-02-03 11:42:17
License	Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt am Main

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