MIRROR AND FRAME WITH SLIDING DOOR / MIRROR CHARM
[1,2,8-10]: MIRROR AND FRAME WITH SLIDING DOOR / MIRROR CHARM
[3,4]: Bronze depiction of an Iy’Ọba’s / Queen Mother’s female attendant holding up a mirror charm for her protection
[5,6]: A bronze Asẹbẹrhia ancestral altar depicting an Iy’Ọba/Queen Mother and her procession.
[7]: A male figure on a plaque holding up a similar square tablet, likely to have been a mirror charm as well as this was also historically done by men.From: Edo culture (Bini), Benin City/Kingdom of Benin, Nigeria 🇳🇬Source [1,2,8-10]: digitalbenin.org ; @britishmuseum
Source [3,4]: “Antique works of art from Benin” by Pitt-Rivers, Augustus Henry Lane-Fox, 1827-1900. Shelved at @seedarchives
Source [3 📝]: Excerpt from “Royal Art of Benin: The Perls Collection” (1992) by Ezra, Kate. Pg 126. Viewed on @internetarchive
Source [5,6]: @weltmuseumwien
Source [7]: @liverpoolmuseums
Source notes [1,2,8-10]:
“Mirror (a) with sliding cover (b), mirror-charm; made of wood and glass. Rectangular mirror in frame with glass set inside. Zigzag openwork elements projecting at one end. Sliding cover made of wood with lozenge-shaped handle. Frame and cover carved in low relief on front surface with interlace and cross-hatch patterns. On back surface with spirals, nested triangles and semi-circles.”
“Mirrors in Benin were hidden inside wooden cases. The cover was more than mere protection from breakage; it closed the cosmic window, shielding the owner from any beings that might emerge undetected from the reflection (see Egharevba 1968a: 31). At public ceremonies, mirror charms have been used for generations to protect the Oba and Iyoba, by deflecting hostile spiritual energies that are sent to attack them. The hidden mirror catches whatever illl fortune is intended and reflects it back towards the being that sent it (Blackmun 1984: 307-311).”
Source notes [5,6]:
Altar Group with Iyoba; aseberia
Source notes [7]:
Pendant Plaque. 1897 beforeObservations: functional ornament, connection/spirituality/feeling as a core design principle and philosophy, multipurpose design, visual and formal harmony, production efficiency, strong continuation of a design language.