id:			143898
accession number:	1968.284
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1968.284
updated:		2022-01-04 16:39:10.682000

Ancestral Altar Tusk, c. 1820. Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, Ẹdo peoples, members of the Igbesanmwan (wood and ivory carvers) guild. Elephant ivory; overall: 197.4 cm (77 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Katherine C. White 1968.284

title:				Ancestral Altar Tusk
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1820
creation date earliest:		1815
creation date latest:		1825
current location:		108A Sub-Saharan
creditline:			Gift of Katherine C. White
copyright:			

---

culture:	Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, Ẹdo peoples, members of the Igbesanmwan (wood and ivory carvers) guild
technique:	Elephant ivory
department:	African Art
collection:	African Art
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

---

CREATORS

---

measurements: Overall: 197.4 cm (77 11/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

---

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Year in Review: 1968
	opening date:   1969-01-29T05:00:00
	<i>Year in Review: 1968</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 29-March 9, 1969).

---

LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* <em>African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection</em>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 10 – September 1, 1968)

---

PROVENANCE

	Commissioned by Ọba Ọsẹmwẹdẹ [r. 1815–50] from the Igbesanmwan
	date: 1820s
	footnotes: 	
			
			* • Blackmun, Barbara Winston. 1994. "History and Statecraft on a Tusk from Old Benin". The Bulletin<br>of the Cleveland Museum of Art. 81 (4): 87-115. (p. 92-3)
			
			
	citations: 	


	Ọba Ọsẹmwẹdẹ [r. 1815–50], Royal Palace, Benin City, by descent to Ovọnramwẹn (Ovọnramwẹn Nogbaisi [c. 1857–1914, r. 1888–97]
	date: after 1850
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Brought to England (or Europe) following the Siege of Benin
	date: 1897
	footnotes: 	
			
			* • Blackmun, Barbara Winston. 1994. "History and Statecraft on a Tusk from Old Benin". The Bulletin<br>of the Cleveland Museum of Art. 81 (4): 87-115. (p. 92)
			
			
	citations: 	


	Katherine (Merkel) White Reswick [1929-1980], Gates Mills, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: by at least 1961–1968
	footnotes: 	
			
			* Letter dated January 28, 1961 from KWR (then Katherine Merkel) to John Wise referencing and<br>describing the tusk/relating it to a pairing with a CMA work; Dallas Museum of Art John Wise<br>Archives (photocopy in Curatorial File)<br>• Photographs c. 1950s-mid-1960s from KWM in curatorial file<br>**Katherine W. Merkel, Katherine C. White, and Katherine White Reswick (1929-1980) are the<br>same woman
			
			
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1968–
	footnotes: 	
			
			* Acquired at accession meeting January 22, 1969 (see registrar files)<br>• Exhibited/published 1968 African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection, cat. No.<br>144, reproduced<br>• Published in “Year in Review 1968” CMA Bulletin LVI (Jan. 1969), Reproduced: p. 43, mentioned p. 46, no. 56.
			
			
	citations: 	


---

fun fact: 


digital description: 


wall description: 
Ọba Ọsẹmwẹdẹ commissioned the carving of this tusk to connect with his ancestors and symbolize his strength. It is covered with royal figures wearing elaborate regalia and scenes of power, ritual, and violence. While Benin royal symbols may look similar across centuries, their meanings can shift. Ọsẹmwẹdẹ’s reign was prosperous due to trade with the Dutch; however, 16th-century Portuguese men are carved on the lower tusk. By the 1800s they represented <em>any</em> European traders. This tusk’s surface likely became worn and cracked from frequent washing, bleaching, and the applying of a white clay (<em>orhue</em>) linked to peace, purity, and prosperity.
---

RELATED WORKS

---

CITATIONS

	Fagg, William. <em>African Tribal Images; the Katherine White Reswick Collection</em>. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968.
	page number: 	Reproduced:  cat. No. 144
	url:		

	Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1968." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 56, no. 1 (1969): 3-50.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 43; mentioned: p. 46, no. 56
	url:		http://www.jstor.org/stable/25152250

	Blackmun, Barbara Winston. 1994. "History and Statecraft on a Tusk from Old Benin". <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>81 (4): 87-115.
	page number: 	Mentioned and reproduced: p. 88, fig. 2
	url:		https://www-jstor-org.ingallslibrary.idm.oclc.org/stable/25161449

---

IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.284/1968.284_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.284/1968.284_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.284/1968.284_full.tif