- benin bronze - 15th century - benin trophy heads - benin early bronze
EARTH METROPOLIS AFRICAN ART
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EDO IMAGES 15th CENTURY & 16th CENTURY MIDDLE PERIOD

       
Bronze Oba & High CollarBronze Oba Head & CollarBronze Oba HeadBronze Oba Head
   
   
Bronze Oba & High CollarBronze Queen MotherBronze Oba HeadBronze Oba Head
   
   
Bronze Oba & High CollarBronze Queen MotherBronze Oba HeadBronze Oba Head
   
   
Bronze Oba & High CollarBronze Queen MotherBronze Oba HeadBronze Oba Head
   
   
Bronze Oba & High CollarBronze Queen MotherBronze Oba HeadBronze Oba Head
   
   
Bronze Oba & High CollarBronze Queen MotherBronze Oba HeadBronze Oba Head
   
   
Bronze Oba & High CollarBronze Queen MotherBronze Oba Head
   
   
Bronze Oba FigureBronze Oba Figure
   
   
Bronze Oba & High CollarBronze Queen MotherBronze Oba HeadBronze Oba Head

EDO IMAGES 15th CENTURY & 16th CENTURY MIDDLE PERIOD
by Claude Lockhart Clark © November 24, 2023



Edo bronze castings and Ivory carvings rank with the best of global antiquity. Many cultures in European and Asian antiquity produced excellent bronze casts, but Edo City produced the best metallurgist capable of casting with fewer flaws or flashes. The finished sculptures were lightweight and had a uniform thickness. Both Europe and America used African metallurgist to help them solve difficult problems concerning metal casting. An African slave cast the lady on top of the capitol building. The art of Edo Ivory carving is rivaled by no other ivory carving produced elsewhere.

The Ivory carvers have an utmost respect for Ivory material the same as African woodcarvers have for timber. Statements made by the artist stay with-in the structural context/confines of the material without cutting and adding ivory or wood pieces indiscriminately to complete the work of art. The artists is able to maintain Ivory or wood as a single object with parts interconnected; thus producing carved items as fine art rather have them degenerate into a display of crafty, technical showmanship used for the decorative arts.

Edo art is divided into three periods; “Early Period” which say ran as early as 13th Century to the 14th Century. The “Middle Period” from 15th to about the 16th Century is considered the golden age in Edo art also referred to as “Classical Period” or “Bronze Plaque Period” because there were so many bronze plaques done during the Middle period. The Portuguese traded copper manila for slaves, followed by the British using the same practice to obtain slaves.

The last period of art was referred to as the “Late Period” from 17th Century to the 18th Century the art went in to decline during the 19th Century. The bronze casts were thicker and heavier. Edo was getting a brass alloy metal from the British. The British were founders of the industrial age and could produce the brass metal alloyed in larger quantities than the Portuguese.



WHAT ARE SOME OF THE STYLE CHARACTERISTICS THE MIDDLE BRONZES?



WHAT WERE THE ALLOYS?

We use the term bronze for all high quality metal casting performed using any copper alloy, but in actuality none of the Edo cast used bronze at all. Bronze is a tin copper alloy. The Edo metal casts are brass alloys composed of zinc and led deposits; with some bronzes containing traces of iron deposits.

Iron deposits are far more plentiful than copper. You can melt copper at a far lower temperature than you can iron. If you don’t discover copper and copper alloys first you will probably never discover iron. That is exactly what happened in West and Central Africa.

We use the term bronze for all high quality metal casting performed using any copper alloy, but in actuality none of the Edo cast used bronze at all. Bronze is a tin copper alloy. The Edo metal casts are brass alloys composed of zinc and led deposits; with some bronzes containing traces of iron deposits.

West African skilled metal artisans first worked iron before they began using brass alloy, which they obtained through trade. Once West African artists identified brass as a low temperature alloyed metal that could melted and poured, they began to experiment with casting pretty; beautiful objects. Iron was more important for practical things such as farming, hunting, and carving wood. Brass was too fragile to use in manual labor. Iron also had both medical and magical properties which brass didn’t. Iron was spiritual driven; brass was not. This may explain why many brass casts had iron deposits in them.

“Excuse me why are you showing me manila. I am not interested. This is European stuff. It is not African”

“Just hold on you will see why in a moment”.

Some scholars push the dates of iron smelting back to 400 BC. To be on the safe I settle for the date of 200 BC. Meroe Nubian’s last civilization Presented iron smelting and iron black smith to the rest of mankind.

West and Central Africa began smelting iron shortly after 200 BC or 400 BC; which ever date is acceptable. I choose 200 BC. That is only a short time before the Christian error. Buddha appears in 500 BC. European Civilization starts at the beginning of the Christian error and Western Civilization has an exact time and date of about 3:00 in the afternoon on October 12th or 10th, 1492.



MANILA USED IN EXCHANGE FOR IVORY & SLAVES -

Benin Bronze Head Ife StileBenin Bronze Figure Ife StileBenin Bronze Head Ife Stile
   
   

Benin Bronze Head Ife StileBenin Bronze Figure Ife StileBenin Bronze Head Ife Stile



WITHOUT A FOOT OR PEDESTAL-

Foot and pedestal in West and Central African sculpture may mark the beginnings of European contact with African artists or Africans having contact with other Africans who had contact with Europeans.

Some Africans acquired the use of pedestals from seeing other Africans with pedestals on their sculptures. Africans often exchanged artwork through trade. The Kuba people, in the Congo Basin, were farming fruits and vegetables from America, possibly a century or more before ever seeing a Caucasian. The same could be true with Ndop figures. The older Ndop images were replaced many times. We don’t have any example of the first Ndop images.

With the exception of some silly metal baskets attached to the feet of many of the Edo sculptures; there were no pedestals on the feet of cast bronze sculptures prier to the arrival of the Portuguese.

After the arrival of Portuguese, Ovbiedo (children of Edo) metallurgist began sculpting a pedestal to the figures. Pedestals were not attached or glued to the figure. Pedestals were sculptured as apart of the figure.





After the arrival of Portuguese, Ovbiedo (children of Edo) metallurgist began sculpting a pedestal to the figures. Pedestals were not attached or glued to the figure. Pedestals were sculptured as apart of the apple.





Benin Clay PotBenin Bronze FigureBenin Bronze Figure Without Pedistal


The bronze figure in the center above shows a warrior with a book in his right hand. The date given for the age of the bronze basket Pedestal or both the pedestal and figure is 1950. That is the 20th Century. I was 5 years old in 1950 and studying /observing African sculpture though magazines and plaster copies for 5 to 6 of the 7 years I lived in Alabama. The University of Pennsylvania produced the plaster copies of African images. My father was an art teacher he bought them for Talladega College in Talladega Alabama.

The provider goes on to say that the ware on th sculpture extensive. But his date for the item does not account for the short time during which that amount of war wads done. I am confused. I don’t have any further information on this sculpture at this point. If more information becomes available I will share it with you.

Ovbiedo craftsmen did not stop making standing figures without a base. They made the feet on images larger so that figures would not topple over when standing.

The Benin clay pot on the left of the bronze warrior does not have a foot. It rests on a head-carrying ring made of plant fiber. Women place the ring on top of their heads too support heavy objects carried on their heads.

      


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THE CLAUDE LOCKHART CLARK ART FORUM ---- is (first and foremost) a master woodcarver - , graphic artist, painter, writer, family archivist, printmaker, photographer and webmaster. His artwork is about his family heritage; the African and Diaspora exsperience. This link will take you to my - Yahoo! 360 Forum - on the world wide web. THE CLAUDE CLARK ART CENTER --- Claude Clark and Claude Lockhart Clark are father and son African American artists. The father's work consist of paintings and the son is a sculptor. Their artwork is about the common man and African exsperience.