Bronze_Head_of_Queen_Idia
Bronze Head of Queen Idia
Bronze sculpture from the Kingdom of Benin
The Bronze Head of Queen Idia is a commemorative bronze head from the medieval Kingdom of Benin in West Africa that probably represents Idia, mother of Oba Esigie, made during the early sixteenth century at the Benin court. Many Benin works of art entered the European art market after the Benin Expedition of 1897 – Four cast bronze heads of the queen are known and are currently in the collections of the British Museum in London,[1] the World Museum in Liverpool,[2] the Nigerian National Museum in Lagos,[3] and the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.[4]