Hand Coil

Description

While this looks like a bracelet, it wasn’t worn around a wrist. A chief or titleholder grasped this “hand coil” vertically during the annual Iguẹ festival, during which such men reaffirm their relationship to the Ọba, whose mystical powers are strengthened. An image of a man’s head caps each end of the thick, twisted metal. Repeated human touch rubbed the undecorated lengths bright and shiny. Though small, the coil’s detail is enormous: to capture it, the artist incised the designs in wax during the casting process. They show these men are elites, with necklaces, caps, and whisker-like facial markings.

Provenance

Commissioned from the Igun Eronmwon, Benin Kingdom (1800s); (Reportedly, Lehmann Bernheimer, Munich, Germany) (1961); Mrs. Wilbur (Katherine) W. Merkel, Gates Mills, OH (before 1968, date unclear); Katherine C. White [1929-1980], Gates Mills, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art (by at least 1968–1975); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1975–)

Hand Coil

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1800s

Accession Number

1975.188

Medium

Copper alloy

Dimensions

Diameter: 11.5 cm (4 1/2 in.)

Classification

Implements

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Katherine C. White