Blog_Mask Of Benin

Iyoba; Pendant Mask

Queen Mother Pendant Mask (Iyoba), 16th century, Edo peoples, Court of Benin, Nigeria, ivory, iron, copper, 23.8 x 12.7 x 8.3 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Edo People, Iyoba Pendant Mask, 16th c.

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When examining the mask you think about how important it was to the Edo people of Benin, they seemed to have Respected this mask, which it represented a great deal of power for the people, the mask is called the “Iyoba Pendant Mask” of the 16th century. It is a 500 year old mask and was made of Ivory which gave this mask life from the luminous glow of Ivory, the Ivory held a great sense of power especially the fact it was being used to make the mask. Yet, it wasn’t a regular face mask to put on the face, but instead used to shows admiration, as it was used by the royalty within Benin and was most likely worn by tying around their hips; it was a way of representing their power and was representing an image of the queen Iyoba who was looking to have her son take over the throne. The queen Iyoba was being represented as powerful and very beautiful women; she was strong and fought for her son's position to be the next heir of the throne, The mask being made of Ivory, a very valuable art median and may have also had gold or coral in the forehead of the mask gave the mask an even more powerful representation by being decorated with such valuable material in Benin. This mask was a great symbol to the people and you could see that by looking at this mask and seeing the material that was used to make it and even the attention to detail on the mask. Just the materials in general gave this mask so much importance and helped represent the power the mask held. The hair of the queen is being represented as portugese men, on the hair of the mask these portugese men are representing a close alliance with Benin as they traded goods like their clothes for valuable brass which was part of making many other arts in Benin (Plaques). The way that they are entangled in the hair shows that deep rooted connection with the queen, who was the face of Benin and the porteguese men who would trade many goods with the Benin empire. Power was passed down through the family with the use of this mask. This is because queen Iyoba fought hard to promise a spot for her son when he grew old enough to rule the empire himself. and being valued by the people of Benin she was admired. From the careful attention to detail and the materials used to make the mask that gave an understanding of importance and showed the people the power of the holder. The mask was made very carefully and holds so much value to the people which unfortunately the mask was taken away after the Benin Empire was overthrown by the British.

SOURCE-

HENI Talks, "Benin ivory mask (Edo peoples)," in Smarthistory, June 17, 2018, accessed March 10, 2021, https://smarthistory.org/ivory-mask-benin/.