  About the Artwork
  
  
  This regal head commemorates the important central role in Benin politics fulfilled by the Queen Mother, or lye oba, who held the rank of a high chief. Her son, the king, consulted with her about all questions of leadership and policy making during his reign. Ironically, all direct contact between the king and his mother was forbidden; they communicated from separate palaces through messengers. This bronze head, which shows the queen's distinctive "chicken's beak" hairdo, would have adorned the ancestral shrine established in her honor after her death.
  
  
  Title
  Royal Portrait
  
  
  Artwork Date
  between 1750 and 1850
  
  Artist
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  Life Dates
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  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  African
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
  Benin
  
  
  Medium
  Bronze, cast
  
  
  Dimensions
  Sight: 21 × 10 1/2 × 10 1/2 inches (53.3 × 26.7 × 26.7 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Metalwork
  
  
  Department
  African Art
  
  
  Credit
  City of Detroit Purchase
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  26.180
  
  
  Copyright
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