id:			143898
accession number:	1968.284
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1968.284
updated:		2025-02-09 03:22:28.471000

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:			

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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: 

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CREATORS

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

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* {'description': '<em>African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection</em>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 10 – September 1, 1968)', 'opening_date': '1968-09-01T00:00:00'}

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PROVENANCE

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


	Katherine (Merkel) White Reswick [1929-1980], Gates Mills, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: by at least 1961–1968
	footnotes: 	
			
			* <div><!--block-->Letter dated January 28, 1961 from KWR (then Katherine Merkel) to John Wise referencing and&nbsp;<br>describing the tusk/relating it to a pairing with a CMA work; Dallas Museum of Art John Wise&nbsp;<br>Archives (photocopy in Curatorial File)&nbsp;<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&nbsp;<br>same woman</div>
			
			
	citations: 	


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


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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:

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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Fricke, Berthold, ed. The Cleveland Museum of Art. Ahrbeck/Hannover: Knorr &amp; Hirth Verlag GmbH, 1975, p. 102.
	page number: 	
	url:		

	Drewal, Henry John. African Art: A Brief Guide to the Collection. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1989, fig.6.
	page number: 	
	url:		

	Judith Perani and Fred T. Smith, The Visual Arts of Africa: Gender, Power, and Life Cycle Rituals, (Prentice Hall, NJ, 1998), fig. 6.7, pp. 175-176.
	page number: 	
	url:		

	Fagg, William. <em>African Tribal Images; the Katherine White Reswick Collection</em>. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968, no. 144.
	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

	Young-Sanchez, Margaret, "A Royal Plaque", Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em>. Vol. 39 no. 07, September 1999
	page number: 	Mentioned & reproduced: p. 8-9
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAMM1999-07/page/8

	Petridis, Constantijn. <em>South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. </em>Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.
	page number: 	Reproduced: cat. 26, p. 82 - 83
	url:		

	Windmuller-Luna, Kristen. “Art from the Benin Kingdom.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine </em>61, no. 1 (Winter 2021): 34-35.
	page number: 	Reproduced: P. 34-35; Mentioned: P. 34.
	url:		

	<em>Digital Benin, </em>Markk Museum Am Rothenbaum Kulturen und Kunste der Welt<em>, (</em>Last Updated: 2021-02-13)
	page number: 	ID 143898
	url:		https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/8_143898

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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