Royal Portrait

1750-1850; Nigeria, Benin; Bronze; height 53 cm (21 in.); City of Detroit Purchase; 26.180

This regal head commemorates the important central role in Benin politics fulfilled by the Queen Mother, or iye oba, who held the rank of high chief. Her son, the king, consulted her about all questions of leadership and policy-making during his reign. Ironically, all direct contact between the king and his mother was forbidden; they communicated from separate palace through messengers. This bronze head, which shows the queen's distinctive "chicken's beak" hairdo, would have adorned the ancestral shrine established in her honor after her death.

JPEG, 33K