NMAfA_Mask (Benin Kingdom court style, Edo people, Nigeria) by catface3

This mask was made of copper alloy, a mixture of copper and zinc or tin, and iron in the 1700s. It is decorated in the Benin Kingdom court style, by the Edo peoples of Nigeria. All the animals figures on the surface are symbols of the power of the king, or oba, of Benin, in Nigeria. The oba is the most powerful person in the kingdom and can be generous as well as fearsome. Today, the oba is Erediauwa, who lives with members of his court in the palace in Benin City. From the “African Vision” exhibit in the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC. One of 88 objects from a collection of 525, ranging in age from the late 1400’s to the mid-1900’s.