Bénin - Nigeria (Sans Prix de Réserve)

A Hornblower, Ikpakohen, in the style of Benin, greenish, partly encrusted patina.
This figure depicts one of the retinue of the Oba (king) of Benin sounding a side-blown horn. It is typical of those objects which might have been found on altars in the Benin royal court of the late sixteenth/early seventeenth century which were dedicated to the Oba's ancestors. The horn would have been made of ivory. Such horns were a prerogative of kingship and were used to annouce the Oba's presence at royal ceremonies. P. Girshick Ben-Amos, The Art of Benin (London, The British Museum Press, 1995).



A smilar exemplare, but cleaned or restored in the British Museum, last photo of the photo sequence.

"Ikpakohẹn (horn-blower or flute-player figures) provide entertainment at private or public functions, festivals or events. He is depicted as playing an Oko, a horn made of ivory. Ikpakohẹn are members of a guild of the same name. Ikpakohẹn are cast in brass and the figures usually wear a woven cap and a leopard-tooth neck ornament and are shown blowing into a horn or flute. At the waist, a wrapper is tied with a stylised knot of cloth projecting upwards, and a leopard pendant mask is attached to this tie." Source Digital Benin.