The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 24, 2024
Ancestral Altar Tusk
c. 1820
Location: 108A Sub-Saharan
Did You Know?
Originally, this carved tusk was placed on an ancestral altar as part of an ensemble of objects made to memorialize a deceased Ọba (ruler).Description
Ọba Ọsẹmwẹdẹ commissioned the carving of this tusk to connect with his ancestors and symbolize his strength. It is covered with royal figures wearing elaborate regalia and scenes of power, ritual, and violence. While Benin royal symbols may look similar across centuries, their meanings can shift. Ọsẹmwẹdẹ’s reign was prosperous due to trade with the Dutch; however, 16th-century Portuguese men are carved on the lower tusk. By the 1800s they represented any European traders. This tusk’s surface likely became worn and cracked from frequent washing, bleaching, and the applying of a white clay (orhue) linked to peace, purity, and prosperity.- 1820sCommissioned by Ọba Ọsẹmwẹdẹ [r. 1815–50] from the Igbesanmwanafter 1850Ọba Ọsẹmwẹdẹ [r. 1815–50], Royal Palace, Benin City, by descent to Ovọnramwẹn (Ovọnramwẹn Nogbaisi [c. 1857–1914, r. 1888–97]1897Brought to England (or Europe) following the Siege of Beninby at least 1961–1968Katherine (Merkel) White Reswick [1929-1980], Gates Mills, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art1968–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OHProvenance Footnotes1 • Blackmun, Barbara Winston. 1994. "History and Statecraft on a Tusk from Old Benin". The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art. 81 (4): 87-115. (p. 92-3)2 • Blackmun, Barbara Winston. 1994. "History and Statecraft on a Tusk from Old Benin". The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art. 81 (4): 87-115. (p. 92)3 Letter dated January 28, 1961 from KWR (then Katherine Merkel) to John Wise referencing and describing the tusk/relating it to a pairing with a CMA work; Dallas Museum of Art John Wise Archives (photocopy in Curatorial File) • Photographs c. 1950s-mid-1960s from KWM in curatorial file**Katherine W. Merkel, Katherine C. White, and Katherine White Reswick (1929-1980) are the same woman4 Acquired at accession meeting January 22, 1969 (see registrar files) • Exhibited/published 1968 African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection, cat. No. 144, reproduced • Published in “Year in Review 1968” CMA Bulletin LVI (Jan. 1969), Reproduced: p. 43, mentioned p. 46, no. 56.
- Fagg, William. African Tribal Images; the Katherine White Reswick Collection. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968. Reproduced: cat. No. 144Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1968." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 56, no. 1 (1969): 3-50. Reproduced: p. 43; mentioned: p. 46, no. 56 www.jstor.orgBlackmun, Barbara Winston. 1994. "History and Statecraft on a Tusk from Old Benin". The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art. 81 (4): 87-115. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 88, fig. 2 www-jstor-org.ingallslibrary.idm.oclc.orgYoung-Sanchez, Margaret, "A Royal Plaque", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 39 no. 07, September 1999 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 8-9 archive.orgPetridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. Reproduced: cat. 26, p. 82 - 83Windmuller-Luna, Kristen. “Art from the Benin Kingdom.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 61, no. 1 (Winter 2021): 34-35. Reproduced: P. 34-35; Mentioned: P. 34.Digital Benin, Markk Museum Am Rothenbaum Kulturen und Kunste der Welt, (Last Updated: 2021-02-13) ID 143898 digitalbenin.org
- Year in Review: 1968. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 29-March 9, 1969).African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 10 – September 1, 1968)
- {{cite web|title=Ancestral Altar Tusk|url=false|author=|year=c. 1820|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1968.284