Cleveland Museum of Art

Ancestral Altar Tusk

Date

c. 1820

Medium

Elephant ivory

Culture

Nigeria, Benin Kingdom, Ẹdo peoples, members of the Igbesanmwan (wood and ivory carvers) guild

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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 any European traders. This tusk’s surface likely became worn and cracked from frequent washing, bleaching, and the applying of a white clay ( orhue ) linked to peace, purity, and prosperity. Originally, this carved tusk was placed on an ancestral altar as part of an ensemble of objects made to memorialize a deceased Ọba (ruler).

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