Figure: Oba with Sacrificial Animals from the Ezomo's Altar of the Hand

Art Historical Context

This exquisite brass figure, titled *Figure: Oba with Sacrificial Animals from the Ezomo's Altar of the Hand*, hails from the Edo peoples of the Benin Kingdom in present-day Nigeria, crafted between the 18th and 19th centuries. Standing just under 5 inches tall, it depicts the Oba, the divine king, accompanied by sacrificial animals—likely rams or goats—symbolizing offerings central to royal and ancestral rituals. As part of the Ezomo's Altar of the Hand, a commemorative ensemble dedicated to the Ezomo (a high-ranking military titleholder), it celebrates triumphs "by the hand," underscoring Benin ideals of power, warfare, and spiritual devotion. Edo artisans mastered the lost-wax casting technique for such works, creating intricate, hollow brass sculptures with remarkable detail in facial features, regalia, and animal forms. These altar figures were not mere decoration but vital to Benin religious life, placed on ancestral shrines to invoke protection and honor the elite. The Oba's poised stance and the animals' alert poses evoke the kingdom's hierarchical society, where art reinforced the monarchy's sacred authority. Now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, gifted by Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls in 1991, this piece offers a window into Benin's artistic legacy, blending technical prowess with profound cultural symbolism.