- 199
PLAQUE EN BRONZE, EDO, ROYAUME DU BENIN, NIGERIA, XVIE-XVIIE SIÈCLES |
Estimate
120,000 - 180,000 EUR
bidding is closed
Description
- haut. 35 cm ; 13 3/4 in
Plaque en bronze, Edo, Royaume du Benin, Nigeria, XVIe-XVIIe siècles
Provenance
Collection James Awadagin Thomas (1876-1934), Ibadan, Nigeria, acquis avant 1934
Transmis par descendance
Collection privée européenne
Transmis par descendance
Collection privée européenne
Catalogue Note
Le 15 juin 1932 ouvrait, au musée d’ethnographie du Palais du Trocadéro, l’Exposition de Bronzes et Ivoires du Royaume de Bénin. L’exposition est très amplement relayée par la presse : les Cahiers d’Art lui consacrent notamment un « numéro spécial », et la revue Art et Décoration, un long article illustré par les œuvres les plus remarquables de l’exposition. Toutes les publications mettent en exergue la citation de Félix van Luschan publiée dans le catalogue de l’exposition : « Benvenuto Cellini n’aurait pu fondre mieux, ni personne avant ou après lui jusqu’à nos jours ». Célébrées pour leurs qualités techniques et esthétiques, les plaques en bronze du royaume de Benin, datées des XVIe-XVIIe siècles, étaient destinées à orner les piliers du palais royal. Elles dépeignent essentiellement le cérémonial de la cour et les personnages qui y sont associés : hauts dignitaires, Européens voyageurs, prêtres ou militaires. Celle-ci, tout comme le fragment, lot n° 199 de cette vente, furent acquis avant 1934 par James Awadagin Thomas (1876-1934), propriétaire au Nigeria d’une plantation d’hévéa et sont restés dans sa famille jusqu’à aujourd’hui. Elles s’imposent comme l’un des témoins archaïques de l’art des fondeurs du Royaume de Bénin. La longue robe à décor géométrique habillant le personnage nous permet de l’identifier comme un prêtre de haut rang, chef des cultes d’Ooton ou d’Osuan au service d’Uwen, divinité d’Etat originaire d’Ife. La pointe au sommet de la coiffe confirme son haut lignage et son affiliation généalogiques aux premiers rois de Benin. « Dans sa main droite, l’Ehioba tient une branche écorcée […] Cette verge appelée uwenrhien-otan est de tous les rituels sacrificiels du palais » (Plankensteiner, Bénin, Cinq siècles d’art Royal, 2007, p. 328). Elle permettait au prêtre de signaler le début de la cérémonie mais également de chasser les esprits malveillants.
Au très grand classicisme du sujet répond ici le haut degré d’aboutissement. La force des volumes projetés en très haut relief redouble dans la concentration des motifs très finement élaborés ornant aussi bien le personnage que le fond de la plaque. Tant par son iconographie que par ses qualités formelles, cette plaque s’apparente étroitement à celle de la collection René Rasmussen, publiée dans Art Nègre en 1951 (n° 25) et à celle conservée à l’Ethnologisches Museum – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (inv. n° III C 8409), toutes trois témoignant du grand art historique du Royaume de Benin.
On June 15, 1932, the Exposition de Bronzes et Ivoires du Royaume de Bénin opened at the Ethnographic Museum of the Palais du Trocadéro. The exhibition received widespread press coverage: Cahiers d'Art dedicated a whole "special issue" to it, and the magazine Art et Décoration, a long article, with the most remarkable pieces from the exhibition as illustrations. Every single review highlighted the Félix van Luschan quote from the exhibition catalogue: “Benvenuto Cellini could not have cast them better, nor anyone else before or since, to the present day.”
Celebrated for their technical as well as their aesthetic qualities, the bronze plaques of the Kingdom of Benin, dated to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and cast using the delicate lost wax technique, were intended to adorn the pillars of the royal palace. They mostly depict court ceremonies and associated figures: high dignitaries, European travellers, priests or soldiers. This one (as well as lot no 199) was acquired prior to 1934 by James Awadagin Thomas (1876-1934), the owner of a rubber plantation in Nigeria, and remained in his family until today. They are archaic exemplars of the art of the guild of casters of the Kingdom of Benin.
The long dress adorned with a geometric decoration and worn by the character on this plaque makes it possible to identify him as a high-ranking priest, a leader of the cults of Ooton or Osuan, serving Uwen, a State deity from Ife. The peak atop the coiffure confirms the figure’s high lineage and affiliation with the first kings of Benin. "In his right hand, the Ehioba holds a branch stripped of its bark [...] This rod, known as uwenrhien-otan, is part of all the sacrificial rituals of the palace.” (Plankensteiner, Bénin, Cinq siècles d’art Royal, 2007, p. 328). The staff was used by the priest to signal the beginning of the ceremony but also to chase away evil spirits.
The great classicism of the subject matter is compounded by the very high level of technical accomplishment. The forcefulness of the volumes projected in very high relief is further enhanced in the concentration of very finely drawn motifs, which adorn the figure as well as the background of the plaque. Both in its iconography and in its formal qualities this plaque is closely related to the one from the René Rasmussen collection, published in Art Nègre in 1951 (No. 25), and to another held at the Ethnologisches Museum – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (inv. No III C 8409), all three standing as distinguished testaments to the great historical art of the Kingdom of Benin.
Au très grand classicisme du sujet répond ici le haut degré d’aboutissement. La force des volumes projetés en très haut relief redouble dans la concentration des motifs très finement élaborés ornant aussi bien le personnage que le fond de la plaque. Tant par son iconographie que par ses qualités formelles, cette plaque s’apparente étroitement à celle de la collection René Rasmussen, publiée dans Art Nègre en 1951 (n° 25) et à celle conservée à l’Ethnologisches Museum – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (inv. n° III C 8409), toutes trois témoignant du grand art historique du Royaume de Benin.
On June 15, 1932, the Exposition de Bronzes et Ivoires du Royaume de Bénin opened at the Ethnographic Museum of the Palais du Trocadéro. The exhibition received widespread press coverage: Cahiers d'Art dedicated a whole "special issue" to it, and the magazine Art et Décoration, a long article, with the most remarkable pieces from the exhibition as illustrations. Every single review highlighted the Félix van Luschan quote from the exhibition catalogue: “Benvenuto Cellini could not have cast them better, nor anyone else before or since, to the present day.”
Celebrated for their technical as well as their aesthetic qualities, the bronze plaques of the Kingdom of Benin, dated to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and cast using the delicate lost wax technique, were intended to adorn the pillars of the royal palace. They mostly depict court ceremonies and associated figures: high dignitaries, European travellers, priests or soldiers. This one (as well as lot no 199) was acquired prior to 1934 by James Awadagin Thomas (1876-1934), the owner of a rubber plantation in Nigeria, and remained in his family until today. They are archaic exemplars of the art of the guild of casters of the Kingdom of Benin.
The long dress adorned with a geometric decoration and worn by the character on this plaque makes it possible to identify him as a high-ranking priest, a leader of the cults of Ooton or Osuan, serving Uwen, a State deity from Ife. The peak atop the coiffure confirms the figure’s high lineage and affiliation with the first kings of Benin. "In his right hand, the Ehioba holds a branch stripped of its bark [...] This rod, known as uwenrhien-otan, is part of all the sacrificial rituals of the palace.” (Plankensteiner, Bénin, Cinq siècles d’art Royal, 2007, p. 328). The staff was used by the priest to signal the beginning of the ceremony but also to chase away evil spirits.
The great classicism of the subject matter is compounded by the very high level of technical accomplishment. The forcefulness of the volumes projected in very high relief is further enhanced in the concentration of very finely drawn motifs, which adorn the figure as well as the background of the plaque. Both in its iconography and in its formal qualities this plaque is closely related to the one from the René Rasmussen collection, published in Art Nègre in 1951 (No. 25), and to another held at the Ethnologisches Museum – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (inv. No III C 8409), all three standing as distinguished testaments to the great historical art of the Kingdom of Benin.