Images(4)

Altar to the Hand (ikegobo)

Artist Edo artist

Datebefore 1897

MediumWood and kaolin

Dimensions17 1/2 x 20 3/4 x 14 in. (44.5 x 52.7 x 35.6 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineGift of the James G. Hanes Memorial Fund

Object numberG.72.2.4

On View

Not on view

ProvenanceCreated in the Kingdom of Benin (present-day Nigeria), 19th century; Looted by British officer or soldier during Raid on Benin City (Feb. 9-18, 1897); acquired by William Downing Webster (1868-1913), London between 1897 and 1899; sold to Gen. Augustus Pitt-Rivers (1827-1900) by 1900 at Naval Auction from British Punitive Expedition, 1897; acquired by James G. Hanes before 1972; gifted to the NCMA, 1972

[former provenance]:
Ex Collections: Webster, Gen. Pitt-Rivers, Naval Auction from British Punitive Expedition, 1897.
Published ReferencesW. D. Webster, Catalogue of ethnological specimens: European and Eastern arms & armour, Prehistoric and other curiosities, Vol. III (Bicester, W. D. Webster, 1899), no. 68, illus.

“Acquisitions,” North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 12, nos. 1 and 2 (December 1973), mentioned 10, listed 48, illus. (b-w) 11, (b-w detail) 49.

Edgar Peters Bowron, ed., Introduction to the Collections (Chapel Hill: published for the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, by The University of North Carolina Press, 1983), illus. (b-w) 74.

“Antique Works of Art from Benin.” Collection of Lt. Gen. Pitt-Rivers (printed privately, 1900), illus. 87.
Exhibition HistoryWinston-Salem, NC, Diggs Gallery, Winston-Salem State University, "Through African Eyes: The Rhythm of African Life and Art," October 5-December 16, 1990, cat. pp. 77-78.
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