minneshuvud, bronshuvud, commemorative head, bronze head, Oba

Royal memorial head bronze. Several large heads of this type-probably six or eight of them, made for a newly succeeding Oba of Benin to consecrate on the altar of his predecessor-mark the sudden decline of the great Benin style into the characteristic (and only occasionally avoided) bathos of the Late period (about 1650-1897), after a hundred years or more of artistic stability-the period of the rectangular plaques (see above), or Middle Period (lasting from about 1525 or 1550 to 1650). Seen by itself, this piece is still quite impressive; but decline from the dignified mean, the gravitas, of the Middle period becomes obvious enough when it is placed beside any of the 50 or more royal heads of the previous century, or indeed beside the bronze plaque in this collection. Exaggerations have crept in wich are apparently designed to increase the importance and visible pomp of royal representation: for example, the high beaded collar has now become impossibly high. The casting technique also now exhibits more imperfections. By William Fagg. The Georg von Békésy Collection. Page 172-173.