Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

This uhunwun elao depicts an oba (king) of the Benin Kingdom. The opening on the top would have held an ivory tusk when placed at an ancestral altar. The artist used idealized facial features, a beaded coral necklace, and brass to convey wealth and prestige.

In 1897, British officials raided Benin City and looted the Benin Kingdom’s palace, taking thousands of royal objects back to Britain. These works eventually entered public and private collections worldwide. Today, artworks commonly known as “Benin bronzes” have become central to current debates on the restitution of African artworks from museum collections. Provenance records do not indicate if this object was among the looted artworks. Records of more recent ownership trace this artwork’s history to an arts dealer in London before a Los Angeles–based collector purchased the work in the 1940s. The Eskenazi Museum later purchased this sculpture in 1975 from Merton D. Simpson. We are committed to transparency in sharing collection histories and will update this text as new information comes to light.