Benin Bronze Head of King Oba, African, Nigeria 20th Century
NIGERIA
Benin Head of King Oba, c. early to mid-20th Century
Lost wax cast bronze with a rich brown and black patina with light desert sand patina in some of the recessed areas.
The art of Benin is the product of an urban royal court, and is meant to symbolize and to extol the power, mystique, grandeur, continuity, and endurance of the ruling dynasty and its governing institutions. From the 14th century until its fall in 1897, Benin was ruled by the Oba, a divine ruler at the head of the political system of titled chiefs. Under royal support, a number of craftsman’s guilds produced bronze, brass, and wood sculptures and embroidered cloth, all of which have become prized by museums and collectors.
These heads were typically placed on altars dedicated to each of the past Oba’s of Benin. The altars are semicircular mud platforms that have been packed hard and rubbed smooth and are located in open courtyards of the palace. The royal altars are the settings for one of the two most important rites of divine kingship in Benin, Ugie Erha Oba, when the Oba honors the spirit of his late father and performs sacrifices to the royal ancestors and to the earth in which they are buried. Acknowledging his role as his fathers’ successor, the chiefs pay homage to the king and greet him in order of seniority. The rite expresses the continuity of divine kingship, and the altar before which it takes place provides the means by which the connection between the living king and his predecessors was established and made.
Archibald Knox / Liberty & Co. Rare Sterling and Opal caviar server 1904
ARCHIBALD KNOX (1864-1933) UK
LIBERTY & COMPANY London, UK
Cymric tri-handled covered server 1904
Sterling silver with repoussé Celtic knot motifs and three buttress handles; the handle of the domed lid inset with a jelly opal, cylindrical crystal bowl.
Marks: No. 5199, Liberty & Co., CYMRIC and Birmingham assay marks for 1904 (all the marks appear both on the underside of the base and on the cover)
Marcel Wanders, One Morning They Woke Up, mosaic table/stool 2004
MARCEL WANDERS (1963-) The Netherlands
“One morning they woke up” mosaic occasional table or stool 2004
Gilt and lively colored glass mosaic, fiberglass body
H: 13″ x D: 17″
Price: $18,500
Marcel Wanders (1963) grew up in Boxtel, the Netherlands, and graduated at the School of the Arts Arnhem in 1988 with a cum laude certificate. He is now an independent industrial product designer operating out of Amsterdam where he has his own studio, Marcel Wanders studio. Marcel continues to work on diverse products and projects for Cappellini, Mandarina Duck, Magis, Droog Design and Moooi amongst others. For the latter he is associated as creative director. Marcel also co-operates in other design-related projects, such as the Vitra Summer Workshop where he was project leader for the second time. Also he was a juror for various prizes like the Rotterdam Design Prize (for which his own products were nominated several times) and the Kho Liang Ie prize. He lectured at SFMoMA, Limn the Design Academy and has taught at various design academies in the Netherlands. Marcel won the Rotterdam Design Prize (public prize) for the Knotted Chair, and received several other awards including the George Nelson Award (Interiors magazine) and Alterpoint Design Award 2000. In the 2001, Marcel has been nominated in the category ‘designer of the year’ in WIRED magazine’s 2001 wired rave awards. Designs of Marcel Wanders have been selected for the most important design collections and exhibitions in the world, like the Museum of Modern Art in New York and San Francisco, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, the Central Museum in Utrecht, and various Droog Design exhibitions. In the book ‘Wanders Wonders, design for a new age’ (1999) which accompanied a solo exhibition in Museum ‘t Kruithuis in Den Bosch, the most important products are shown, from the Knotted Chair to the Shadows lamps and from the Nomad Carpet to the Eggvase. Works of Marcel have been published in all leading design magazines.
Benin King Oba bronze standing figure, Nigeria, 20th Century
Benin King Oba bronze standing figure, Nigeria, 20th Century
Lost wax cast bronze with a rich brown and black patina with light desert sand patina in some of the recessed areas.
The art of Benin is the product of an urban royal court, and is meant to symbolize and to extol the power, mystique, grandeur, continuity, and endurance of the ruling dynasty and its governing institutions. From the 14th century until its fall in 1897, Benin was ruled by the Oba, a divine ruler at the head of the political system of titled chiefs. Under royal support, a number of craftsman's guilds produced bronze, brass, and wood sculptures and embroidered cloth, all of which have become prized by museums and collectors.
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