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50. Plaque: Three Men Striking Idiophones with Birds of Prophecy
Edo, Court of Benin, Nigeria
Brass; 47.3 x 34 x 12 cm (18 5/8 x 13 3/8 x 4 3/4 in.)
16th–17th century
Trustees of the British Museum, London
98.1–15.117

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50. Plaque: Three Men Striking Idiophones with Birds of Prophecy

The event portrayed in the plaque shown here is a defining moment in the history of the kingdom of Benin—a court ceremony that commemorates the victory of a sixteenth-century king, Esigie, over seemingly insurmountable odds. Both the work itself and the ritual represented constitute tributes to a divine king's ability to triumph over fate and destiny.

The musical instrument held by each of the three protagonists in this choreographed celebration scene is an idiophone, or clapper, consisting of a cylindrical shaft topped by a bird-motif finial. Each man is holding the clapper in one hand and a metal rod in the other, and two of the men (the central figure and the figure at the right) appear to be striking the rod against the bird's beak. The display and use of these handheld clappers in performances by Benin titleholders are the musical and visual highlights of an annual court festival known as Ugie Oro.

The bird perched with outstretched wings on the finials of the instruments is usually called the "bird of prophecy" (ahianmwen-oro) and sometimes the "messenger of god" (odibosa).1 Although Benin artists invariably rendered it with exacting details, which include a long neck with wattles and narrow bib below its long, curved beak, it is difficult to determine what species of bird it might be modeled after. While it has been variously referred to as a kingfisher and a vulture, recent scholarship indicates that healers use the name ahianmwen-oro to refer to a white-tailed ant thrush because of its predictive powers; however, this small-beaked bird with white-tipped feathers looks nothing like the subject of the clappers. Consequently, it may be that as a metaphor for an abstract concept—prophecy—ahianmwen-oro is a mythical creature that has been interpreted by Benin artists as a composite of different birds.2

In Edo society, a traditional healer (obo; plural, ebo) pursues one of several specializations, such as curing illnesses, divining the future, combating witchcraft, or administering trials to determine the guilt of suspected wrongdoers.3 Ebo who specialize in predicting the future use several different divination methods. In one of these, known as Ewawa, the obo fills a cup with small brass images of humans, animals, and objects, along with cowrie shells and pieces of chalk, and then shakes the cup and analyzes the resulting configuration. Another method in widespread use, Orunmila, is closely related to Yoruba Ifa divination.4 Ebo derive their divinatory abilities from osun, the spiritual force inherent in the leaves and herbs that they use to make "medicines," which transform those natural substances into instruments of power. Their emblem of authority is an iron staff, osun ematon, at the top of which is a bird motif, a design resembling that of staffs owned by neighboring Yoruba diviners and healers (see cat. no. 30). In precolonial times, these were carried by warriors in order to ensure success in battle.5

From the reign of Esigie onward, the bird of prophecy has been regarded as a sign that the kings of Benin are endowed with the power to alter the course of history. Before that time, according to oral history, it was associated with predictions of disaster. On the eve of an epic crisis involving combat against a formidable enemy, the Igala, its appearance before Esigie and his troops was interpreted by his diviners as a portent of a devastating outcome.6 Rather than follow their advice to heed the "bird that cries disaster" and retreat, Esigie defied the prediction and rallied his troops to proceed into battle. His audacity was rewarded. Under Esigie's command, the Benin army went on to defeat the Igala and further expand the kingdom's sphere of influence. As a means of commemorating this victory, Esigie commissioned the royal brass-casters to create instruments personifying the augury he had triumphed over, kingly counterparts to diviners' staffs.

The court ritual Ugie Oro was introduced by Ewedo, Benin's fourth divine king (oba), to celebrate the power of all Benin kings. It was expanded by Esigie to include references to his victory over the Igala as a specific case illustrating the power of the oba to prevail over natural and supernatural forces that affect humankind.7 The sounding of the clappers on this occasion celebrates his ability to protect his people and the defeat of something much more significant than an enemy army.

During the early sixteenth century, a number of important developments affected power dynamics in the region. The Portuguese first arrived in Benin during the reign of Esigie's father, Ozolua. Esigie's own reign was shaped by two major challenges to his authority, and in these conflicts his most important assets proved to be his alliance with the Portuguese and the astute counsel of his mother, Idia, as adviser. In the first, he battled over succession rights to the throne with his brother Aruaran. In the second, Benin's hegemony was threatened by the Atah of Idah when the Igala army came dangerously close to attacking the capital. It was on that occasion that the Portuguese soldiers in Esigie's following are reputed to have executed his order that the bird of prophecy be silenced.

Esigie's resilience, resourcefulness, and self-confidence as a leader are reflected in the body of diverse artistic traditions that are associated with his reign. Many of the ideas developed during this period were translated into images that provided a rich source of motifs, which were then reused and recombined in Benin art for centuries to come. This resulted in a creative collaboration with the guild of brass-casters, Igun Evonmwon, who worked directly under the king's patronage. Art historians have noted that it was probably during the reign of Esigie, or of Ewuare a century earlier, that the brass-casters were organized as a professional association within the palace. Among the genres of artistic expression that flourished under Esigie's visionary leadership are the "bird of prophecy" idiophones and the rectangular architectural plaques that were displayed on the palace's facade. There are approximately nine hundred such works with relief imagery depicting scenes from court life, which were originally hung on the exterior pillars of the palace. The example shown here is especially effective in achieving Esigie's goal of reinforcing the power and mystique of divine kingship at Benin while immortalizing his own quest to alter the course of history.

1. Royal Art of Benin 1992, pp. 197–201.

2. Ibid., p. 200.

3. Ibid., p. 215.

4. Ibid., p. 218.

5. Paula Ben-Amos, The Art of Benin (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995), p. 74.

6. Royal Art of Benin 1992, p. 198.

7. Ibid., p. 201.