Figure of a Hornblower (Ikpakohẹn)
1 of 13
Object Label
ART OF HISTORY
History is about power, and its depiction is a consequential act. These two works—a technically refined casting of precious materials for a powerful monarch, and a group of movable wood figures celebrating a new democratic era—commemorate specific important moments in the political histories of their respective societies.
The Edo figure glorifies the spirit of a deceased king, or oba, who ruled the kingdom of Benin at the height of its power. A motif on the figure's kilt depicting an elephant, whose trunk ends in a human right hand, identifies this work with the reign of the oba Esigie, who ruled from 1504 to 1550.
Johannes Segogela's sculpture addresses the South African transition from the armed liberation struggle against whites-only apartheid rule into the new democratic era, born the following year with the multiracial elections that swept Nelson Mandela to power. The work suggests the need for South Africans to cast their weapons into the furnace.
Caption
Edo. Figure of a Hornblower (Ikpakohẹn), ca. 1504–50. Copper alloy, iron, 24 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 6 in. (62.2 x 21.6 x 15.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 55.87. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 55.87_overall_PS11.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Figure of a Hornblower (Ikpakohẹn)
Date
ca. 1504–50
Geography
Place made: Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria
Medium
Copper alloy, iron
Classification
Dimensions
24 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 6 in. (62.2 x 21.6 x 15.2 cm)
Inscriptions
"16" written in black on back of figure
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection
Accession Number
55.87
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
What does the skirt pattern represent?
The pattern on the skirt is a reference a specific to a specific king's reign. You may have read this on the label, but "A motif on the figure's kilt depicting an elephant, whose trunk ends in a human right hand, identifies this work with the reign of the oba Esigie, who ruled from 1504 to 1550."The pattern on the skirt is a reference to a specific king's reign. The skirt has a pattern of human faces, leopard faces, arms, half-moons, and leaf forms. Leopards are often symbols of powerful individuals like the king memorialized by this work. You may have read this on the label, but "A motif on the figure's kilt depicting an elephant, whose trunk ends in a human right hand, identifies this work with the reign of the oba Esigie, who ruled from 1504 to 1550."
Have information?
Have information about an artwork? Contact us at