Queen Mother Pendant Mask (Iyoba)

Carved from a single piece of ivory for the king, or oba, of Benin in what is now southern Nigeria, this small mask was worn at the hip in ceremonies honoring the Iyoba, the queen mother. It portrays Idia, mother of a sixteenth-century oba, her serene face inlaid with strips of iron, her crown and collar formed of tiny bearded heads of Portuguese traders, the strangers whose sea trade brought Benin its wealth and ivory. Looted by a British punitive expedition in 1897, it has become an emblem of the debate over restitution.