Page 180 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

sculptor Leon Underwood notes (1949, 20), "is scholar, even if at present there is no strong basis
more that of a general concept of beauty than that for concluding that this work actually originated
of the individual/' William Fagg has commented in Ife. It is clear that in style the Dwarf is far from
that these heads "have a remarkable formal a typical Benin work. Its deformed head, like a
abstract quality, as a drop of liquid, almost as if similar but fragmentary head preserved in the
they had been influenced by Brancusi" (Elisofon Museum fur Volkerkunde in Berlin (Dark 1973,
and Fagg 1958, 64). pis. 37, 38), shows a degree of expressiveness
A limpid rhythm defines the synthetic struc- which, though very unusual in the stylized plas-
ture of the work, which is articulated in two com- ticism of Benin art, at the same time does not cor-
plementary blocks : the base in the form of a respond to the balanced, Apollonian canons of Ife
truncated pyramid and the egg-shaped volume of sculpture which exhibits a sublime fusion of real-
the head, joined together by the perfect cylinder ism and idealization. The details of the Vienna
of the neck enclosed in the regal collar of coral Dwarf, moreover, differ from those of classic
beads. The tall netted headdress, also made of Benin figures. Philip Dark (1973, 23) has noted
coral and edged with stiff vertical hanging strands that the facial features of the Dwarf—the deep-set
of beads that cover both sides of the face and neck, eyes, flattened nose and mouth — "do not bear the
seems molded onto the head. stamp of Benin conventionalization," just as the
The face has a rounded, inert surface, large eyes necklaces and wide bracelets worn by the figure
close to the plane of the head (the pupils are of are not typical of Benin.
iron inlay, as are the scarifications across the fore- There are, moreover, interesting connections
head); nostrils and mouth are vigorously modeled between this work and Ife art. Frank Willett
to yield a remote, evocative mask. (1986, 95, ill. 45, 47, 48) has drawn attention to
This head is indeed distinguished by a "remark-
able formal quality," without any uncertainty, to
whose perfection any indication of humanity has
yielded. These elements were the deliberate
choice of the artist, who refused any attempt at
specific characterization, as can be seen by com-
paring this work with similar heads — a fitting
choice for a work whose purpose was to give shape
to an abstract notion of royalty, to a "general
concept of beauty," and to cast it in metal for eternity.
E.B.

and her relationship to the Oba. "This prince 62
greatly honors his mother, and does nothing
important without first asking her advice. None- DWARF
theless, according to I don't know what law, it is
not permitted that they see each other; for this iqth-ijth century
reason the Queen Mother lives in a beautiful Edo peoples, Benin kindgom, Nigeria
house outside the city, where she is served by cast copper alloy
3
(23 /sj
59.5
a large number of women and young girls" references: Fagg 1963; Dark 1973, 23; Eyo and
(Dapper 1686, 311). Willett 1980; Willett 1986, 95; Duchateau 1990,
The first commemorative heads of queen moth- 13-17
ers, recognizable by the tall pointed headdress
which coincidentally recalls the "ducal horn/' the Museum fur Volkerkunde, Vienna
insignia of office of the Doges of Venice, can thus
be dated about the middle of the sixteenth cen- This and a second sculpture of a dwarf from the
tury. They belong, both by chronology and style, museum in Vienna (Duchateau 1990, 13-17) are
to the early period of Benin art, according to the considered by scholars of Benin art to be among
subdivisions proposed by William Fagg. The the most extraordinary works created in the
heads of queen mothers are fewer in number than Nigerian city. William Fagg (1963, pi. 25) goes so
the male heads. The group includes, along with far as to declare that "without doubt they are the
this piece from the Lagos museum, two others in finest of all Benin bronze figures, but they are so
the Museum fur Volkerkunde in Berlin (Luschan naturalistic that it is difficult to find points of
1919, pis. 51 and 52 b,c), one in the Museum of style by which to date them, though the early date
Mankind in London (Forman and Dark 1960, nos. seems most likely It is even conceivable that
65-67), and one in the museum in Liverpool they are Ife works/'
(Fagg 1963, no. 13). The last two lack the base. The date of I4th-i5th century, recently estab-
Compared to the male heads (cat. 60), those of lished by measuring the thermoluminescence of
the queen mother are more stylized and imper- some traces of clay found in the cavity of the
sonal, as though isolated in their mysterious and dwarf from Vienna not exhibited here (Duchateau
haughty perfection. Their "physical beauty/' the 1990), confirms the keen intuition of the English

EUROPE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD 179