The Royal Art of the Kingdom of Benin: A Classical Form Political Propaganda Essay

The art of Benin is a collection of artworks from the precolonial kingdom of Benin that was located in the tropical rainforest south of modern-day Nigeria. The empire existed from 900s to 1867. It was a highly structured hierarchical social that had a sophisticated administrative system revolving around an Oba (the king or traditional ruler of the Benin kingdom), who delegated the control of fiefs to chiefs - the Uzamas, Palace and Town Chiefs. The people of Benin regarded the Oba not only as their political ruler but also their spiritual and ritual leader. The kingdoms cache of artworks is one of the diverse and most important of African historical art. Among them, the royal art pieces are the most prominent for they serve many purposes including exalting the Oba and honoring past kings. Additionally, they express the powers and privileges of the kingship and the responsibilities and rank of different chiefs, titleholders, spiritual leaders, palace officials, and aides. These groups made up the empire's multifaceted administrative and bureaucratic pecking order.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

By scrutinizing the three royal artworks below, it is evident that they portray the king as a deity who link the kingdom's subjects with the spiritual world, punish those who engage in anti-social behaviors and repeal evil from the kingdom. As such, they present the Oba as the sole source of the kingdom's wellbeing. Thus, the royal art of the kingdom of Benin is a classical form of visual manipulation, which Obas used to justify the legitimacy of their political powers and subjects' loyalty.

The plague below consists of three protagonists each holding a clapper (or an idiophone) comprising of tubular chute capped by a motif of the bird of prophecy (Ezra, 1992; Soppelsa, 2002). They are beating the clappers with a metal rod. The plaque depicts a crucial point in history celebrating the 16th-century victory of Oba Esigie against the formidable Igala army (Ezra, 1992). The people of Benin associated the prophecy bird with bad omen (Soppelsa, 2002). The bird had appeared on the eve of the battle against the Igala, and Benin's diviners construed that appears to indicate the kingdom would suffer a devastating defeat (Soppelsa, 2002). Thus, they advised the Oba to refrain from engaging the Igala army (Soppelsa, 2002). However, he ignored their warning and proceeded to battle. Under his command, the Benin troops won. The plague and the ceremony they express illustrate the Oba possesses divine authority (Ezra, 1992; Soppelsa, 2002). He can, therefore, surmount providence and destiny, which means he can change the course of history. By beating the clappers, this artwork also represents the humiliation of the Igala in the hands of Esigie (Ezra, 1992). As a result, the plague underscores the account that Obas are endowed with supernatural powers to protect the inhabitants of Benin against those seeking to harm them (Ezra, 1992; Soppelsa, 2002). Consequently, it propagated the belief that the Oba's leadership is necessary for the survival of the kingdom. Ultimately, the art and the ceremony, which grew into an annual ritual, manipulate the subjects of the kingdom into supporting the reign of the Obas on account that their authority directly comes from the gods.

Rattle-staffs featured predominately in altars honoring royalty, chiefs, and the commoners (Ezra, 1992). Staffs are normally wooden, but for royal altars, they may be brass and sometimes ivory (Ezra, 1992). The handle of the staffs opened into a hollow chamber at the bottom that rattles when the staff strikes the ground or one shakes it. As a result, they symbolize communication between the livings and their ancestors' spirits (Ezra, 1992). Everyone in Benin could have a wooden staff on their ancestors alters. However, only the Oba had the right to have a brass-based staff with a hand crunching a mudfish as the one shown below (Figure 2) (Ezra, 1992). The hand gracefully wraps its fingers with their exquisitely-manicured nails around a coiled mudfish, highlighting its value to the kingship divine power (Ezra, 1992). The mudfish, which is the ideal sacrifice to the god of the sea (Olokun) and survives both on land in water, symbolizes the king's relationship Olokun (Ezra, 1992). Also, it depicts the Oba can freely roam into the spirits' realm as he does the human one (Ezra, 1992).

More importantly, the wound mudfish signifies "Oba's ability to cast and then release a curse, to set up obstacles and remove them, to punish and pardon" (Ezra, 1992, p. 93). As a result, the king has the supreme power to afflict distress and grant blessings to his subjects overlaps with the royal rattle-staff as a channel to communicate with spirits of dead Obas (Ezra, 1992). It thus exemplifies the passing of royal authority from earlier generations of Obas to the current one. Only the king possesses the mythical power to transverse the spirit and human worlds (Ezra, 1992). This art piece, therefore, plays on the religious belief the inhabitants of Benin hold that preserving a good relationship with ancestral spirits foresters their prosperity. Because the Oba has the prerogative to intercede on behalf of his people, the art ties the subjects to their king, which means they live in fear of angering the king by being disloyal for he not only has the power to curse them but also the authority to intervene for their beneficiations.

The plaque (fig. 3 below) shows the Oba holding two leopards on his hands. He is wearing elegant regalia and a prominent crown. Around his waist are two mudfish. The leopards signify the king has power, is aggressive, and ferocious (Smart History, 2018). The mudfish expresses the king relationship with Olokun - the deity of sea and wealth. Further, it accentuates the king divine power and the ability of the two transverse between the spirits and human worlds (Smart History, 2018). The power of the king and his divinity means that he is the only one with the ability to protect his people against worldly and otherworldly dangers. As such, subjects were comfortable to be under the Obas protection, which gave the king's claim to power credence.

References

Ezra, K. (1992). Royal Art of Benin: The Perls collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Smart History. (2018, November 28). How to impress your courtiers: a lesson from the Kingdom of Benin [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ph2D--ZeHQ

Soppelsa, R. T. (2002). Art and oracle: African art and rituals of divination by Alisa LA Gamma. African Arts, 35(3), 88-88. doi:10.1162/afar.2002.35.3.88