Annabelle

25 • She/Her • Hi there!! I'm Anna, a socially shy but passionate trans woman studying in college rn to be a historian ^^ I like to rb lots of beautiful art and stuff I find funny on this blog amongst other things. Feel free to message if you like ^^

[magutts]

☀️ WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF ZYTERRA 🌙

ENCYCLOPEDIA ZYTERRIUM

A Comprehensive Introduction to the World of Zyterra

...Version 2.0?! For the past few months I've been quietly working on a site for my headworld to expand on and ultimately replace the old carrd site that I'd been using for the same purpose. My goal was to create a space that serves as a hub for anyone to learn about the setting, stories, and characters that I base all my art on! This was truly a labor of love as I am no coder, and I had to learn a lot on the fly just for this project. I know it's really rough around the edges...but so is everything I do, so I'm very happy with it :')

I would not be the animal I am today without the patience and care of my OCs and so I'm excited for others to meet them and maybe understand what makes them so special to me!

Alright, enough talking! Come and explore if you dare. 🐶🐱

Actually I lied, just one more thing! Obligatory "use of desktop is preferred", but to my mobile users: I know it seems counter-intuitive, but please also request the desktop version of the site to get the intended mobile experience for now. I put in a lot of effort to make it look decent on a smaller device, trust me!

[themuseumwithoutwalls]

MWW Artwork of the Day (2/4/23) Kingdom of Benin (Nigeria) Memorial Head of a Queen Mother (Iyoba)(early 16th c.) Copper alloy statuette, 51 x 16 x 18 cm. Bode-Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

This is a commemorative bronze head from the medieval Kingdom of Benin in West Africa that probably represents Idia, mother of Oba Esigie, made during the early sixteenth century at the Benin court. The bronze head was made using the lost wax casting technique in the early sixteenth century. It is a very realistic representation of a young woman from the Benin court, who wears a high pointed ukpe-okhue crown of lattice-shaped red coral beads. The hairstyle is referred to as a “parrot’s beak” hairstyle and was only allowed to be worn by the Iyoba and the major war chief. Queen Idia played an instrumental role in her son’s successful military campaigns against neighboring tribes and factions. After her death, Oba Esigie ordered dedicatory heads of the queen to be made, to be placed in front of altars or in the Queen Mother’s palace. The heads were designed to honor her military achievements and ceremonial power.

[lucienballard]

Edo Queen Mother

Benin Bronze

c1880

[ukpuru]

Idia: The First Queen Mother of Benin

The kingdom of Benin (in present-day Nigeria) was plunged into a state of turmoil at the end of the fifteenth century when oba Ozolua died and left two powerful sons to dispute succession. His son Esigie controlled Benin City while another son, Arhuaran, was based in the equally important city of Udo about twenty miles away. The ensuing civil war severely compromised Benin’s status as a regional power and undermined Benin City’s place at the political and cultural center of the kingdom. Exploiting this weakness, the neighboring Igala peoples sent warriors across the Benue River to wrest control of Benin’s northern territories. Esigie ultimately defeated his brother and conquered the Igala, reestablishing the unity and military strength of the kingdom. His mother Idia received much of the credit for these victories as her political counsel, together with her mystical powers and medicinal knowledge, were viewed as critical elements of Esigie’s success on the battlefield. To reward and honor her, Esigie created a new position within the court called the iyoba, or “Queen Mother,” which gave her significant political privileges, including a separate residence with its own staff.

As mother of the king, Idia and later iyobas wielded considerable power. Until recent times, the iyoba, who bore the oba’s first son, had no other children and devoted her life to raising the future ruler of the kingdom, a role she was destined to play even before her own birth. Queen Mothers were therefore viewed as instrumental to the protection and well-being of the oba and, by extension, the kingdom. Indeed, obas wore carved ivory pendant masks representing the iyoba during ceremonies designed to rid the kingdom of malevolent spiritual forces. An especially fine example of such masks in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection dates from the sixteenth century and is believed to depict Idia herself. Two vertical bars of inlaid iron between the eyes allude to medicine-filled incisions that were one source of Idia’s metaphysical power. Within the court, the iyoba’s political status was equal to that of a senior chief, and she enjoyed the right to commission precious works of art for personal and devotional use. Images of the iyoba found on the cast brass objects with which she was associated, such as ikegobo (altars to the hand)

and urhoto (rectangular altarpieces), portray her in a shirt of coral beads flanked by attendants bearing symbols of political and spiritual power. 

These attendants, also depicted in carved ivory, were women under the tutelage of the iyoba destined for marriage to her son, the future oba. As with ancestral obas, deceased iyobas were venerated with cast brass memorial heads fitted with carved ivory tusks and displayed on royal altars.

Met: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pwmn_3/hd_pwmn_3.htm

[alaayemore-blog]

Brass Leopard mask. Geography: Benin kingdom (now in present day Nigeria), West Africa. Culture: Benin people. Ca. 18th century.

[diasporicroots]

Benin hip mask cast in the form of a ram’s head, with four loops on the reverse for attachment, the snout encircled by a fan composed of ridges terminating in nine stylized pendant mudfish.

Part of an elaborate collection of African Art work that dispelled redundant colonial concepts of African achievement. Artwork taken from Benin is housed in museums all over the world.

[virtual-artifacts]

Benin kingdom hip ornament; cast bronze in the form of a ram’s head. 

Edo people | ca. 17th - 18th century | H: 19 cm

[omgthatartifact]

Armlet

Benin Empire, 15th-16th century

The British Museum

“This ivory armlet is worn by the Oba (king) of Benin in ceremonies in which he wears a coral costume, dances with a ceremonial sword and carries a gong. The armlet helps to prevent the coral beads from becoming entangled during the Oba’s dance.

Ivory formed an important part of the accessories worn at ritual ceremonies by the Oba. One of the series of annual rituals is the Bead Festival (Ugie Ivie) created by Oba Esigie, a great warrior-king of the sixteenth century, in remembrance of his military successes. The Bead Festival commemorates the struggle between Oba Esigie and his brother, Arhuaran of Udo, over the possession of the royal coral beads, used in a ceremony to announce the capital city of the kingdom. During the ceremony all the beads of the king, his wives and chiefs are placed upon the altar of Oba Ewuare, who first brought coral beads into Benin, and over them are poured the blood of a cow. The sacrificial blood imbues the beads with the mystical powers required for the remaining ceremonies.

The Oba is represented on the armlet with mudfish legs and his hands raised to the sky, thus linking him with the great god Olokun, ruler of the sea. The mudfish has symbolic significance among the Edo people as it can live on land and sea. Similarly, the Oba is invested with divine powers from the spiritual world above and the secular world below.”

[omgthatartifact]

Royal Tusk

Benin Empire, 1750

The Minneapolis Institute of Art

“The ancestral altars of the Oba, or ruler of Benin, feature carved elephant tusks like this one, set into the top of a cast bronze portrait head. Because of its rarity and permanence, ivory is especially suitable for recording royal historical events, and many tusks recount episodes from Benin history or lives of the Obas. This tusk may have come from the altar of an Ezomo, the highest-ranking noble in Benin. The figures with fishtails instead of legs refer to the Oba himself (the Oba traces his descent from Olokun, lord of the sea, and thus controls the realms of both water and land). In the fourth row, on the inside of the curve of the tusk, is an elephant, probably referring to the Iyase n'Ode, a famous military leader who was able to transform himself into an elephant. He almost overthrew two Obas before being defeated by a loyal Ezomo. This episode from Benin folklore helps to secure the powerful role of the present Ezomo, who must act as protector to the royal house. Other images include the leopard, a royal symbol because of its power and intelligence; Adesua, an Ezomo’s young daughter, whose actions brought trouble to Benin; members of the Oba’s special guard who wear the bronze image of a royal leopard on their belts; and Portuguese soldiers (with long, straight hair and beards), allies of Benin since the fifteenth century. Additional figures represent nobles, attendants, and soldiers of the Oba.”

[omgthatartifact]

Altar

Benin Empire, 18th-19th century

The National Museum of African Art

This object possibly supported an ivory tusk on an altar. The depiction of four female figures holding gongs suggests an association with an iyoba, or queen mother. Two figures strike bird gongs, which symbolize the infallibility of the oba.

[tibonanj]

[medievalpoc]

Artist Unknown

Saltcellar with Portuguese Figures

Nigeria; Edo peoples, court of Benin(15th–16th century)

Ivory

H.7 ½ in. (19.1 cm)

This saltcellar created by a Benin ivory carver reflects a local interest and emphasis on extensive detailing of dress and regalia found in other forms of Benin court art. Articulated in exacting detail, four Portuguese male figures, two richly adorned men and their attendants, are depicted around the perimeter of the receptacle. The higher status figures are depicted frontally, facing outward. The attendants are in profile, more crudely rendered, and in motion.

The two wealthier men are laden with the trappings of their status. This includes the patterned high-crowned hat with a feather decorating its brim, the knee britches, a buttoned doublet with flaring shoulders and sleeves and bodice, keys, crosses, swords, and spears. Two-dimensional fabric patterns are translated into low relief, endowing the work’s surface with an intricately arranged series of textures. This baroque layering of forms nearly disguises the structure of the object.

This particular saltcellar is one of four of almost identical design; the others are currently in European collections. This is the only one that has survived primarily intact. It is believed that the four were intended as a set, perhaps as a gift for a patron’s table.

[x]

[barbucomedie]

Ivory Box from Benin City, Nigeria dated to the Early 19th Century on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland

With the arrival of the Portuguese in the late 15th century, certain guilds started to produce luxury goods, such as ivory carvings which combined European and Benin motifs. This box shows two quarrelling Portuguese soldiers alongside a large coiled pangolin. The pangolin’s horny scales are replicated on the Oba’s (King’s) regalia as a symbol of strength and resilience.

Photographs taken by myself 2018

[omgthatartifact]

Brass Helmet Mask for the Oduda Ritual

Benin Empire, 18th century

The British Museum

“In addition to his executive powers and duties, the Oba (king) of Benin also performed a number of rituals throughout the year. Guilds of specialists such as drummers, shield-bearers, carvers, brass-casters and weavers provided regalia and ritual objects. The cycle of ceremonies coincides with the agricultural cycle, but they are also concerned with the strengthening of the kingdom.

The first festival of the year is the Ikhurhe which is performed to purify the land in preparation for planting. This is followed by the Bead Festival, Ugie Ivie, in remembrance of ancestral warrior kings. The two most important rituals are the Ugie Erha Oba, in honour of the king’s deceased father, and the Igue which strengthens the king’s mystical powers. Igue includes the presentation of gifts by the Oba to his chiefs, dances in ceremonial costumes, animal sacrifices to the king, and the application of magical substances onto his body. On the last day children carry torches to drive away evil spirits from the town and gather ewere leaves or ‘leaves of joy’ on the outskirts of the town which are then taken home as symbols of hope and happiness.

This brass helmet is used in the Ododua ritual, in honour of the father of Oranmiyan, the legendary founder of the ruling dynasty. The dance is performed by seven masqueraders who wear brass helmets and carry ceremonial swords to signify their high status. They dance back and forth before the Oba seven times as a sign of their commitment and loyalty.”

[mia-africa-americas]

Warrior Chief, c. 1800, Minneapolis Institute of Art: Art of Africa and the Americas

standing figure wearing a hat with turned-up brim in front, neck and mouth covering, armor-like tunic and anklets; figure holds spear in PR hand and removable shield in PL hand; bare feet; bell-like pendant on element at PL hip This bronze figure represents a warrior chief, and would have been placed on a shrine to honor an Oba, or king, accompanied by a memorial head and tusk, bells, and other ceremonial items. The figure’s garments and accoutrements all make reference to his status as a warrior with royal associations. He holds a shield in one hand and a ceremonial spear in the other, and the series of small bells that hang from his garment are indications of his status within the warrior class. The leopard – represented in the leopard-tooth necklace and the leopard face decorating the front of the figure’s garment – was an important symbol of the Benin kingship because of its power and ferociousness. Like memorial heads, this figure also wears a large coral necklace, symbolizing the wealth and power of the Oba he served. Size: 11 ¾ x 7 5/16 x 4 5/8 in. (29.85 x 18.57 x 11.75 cm) Medium: Bronze

https://collections.artsmia.org/art/101539/

[omgthatartifact]

Bronze Head for the Worship of Osun

Benin Empire, 18th century

The British Museum

“Osun is one of a number of deities worshipped in Benin. His power lies in plants of the forests. Magical specialists, or ebo, use herbs and plants to create magical or medicinal potions.

In the eighteenth century, the Obas (kings) of Benin developed a new form of representing their magical and mystical powers through brass heads such as these. This example has snakes issuing from the eyes and nostrils, and a crown of birds, both creatures being closely associated with Osun. Birds were often sited on the top of palaces and have prophetic and protective powers. The stone axes on the forehead are associated with lightning and its destructive powers.”

[arthistoryanimalia]

#TwoForTuesday :

Sculptures of Roosters

Igun Eronmwon (Brass Casting Guild), Nigeria, Edo, Benin City, 18th c. CE

Copper Alloy

Penn Museum display AF2065A,B

“The lyoba's unique political status made her the highest-ranking woman in Benin. Placing roosters on her altar highlights how she took on a position of power in the Royal Court.”