奥巴马总统 - 美国大都会艺术博物馆展品查阅

品名（中）	奥巴马总统
品名（英）	Head of an Oba
入馆年号	1977年，1977.187.37
策展部门	迈克尔·洛克菲勒之翼（The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing）
创作者
创作年份	公元 1800 - 公元 1897
创作地区	尼日利亚, 贝宁（Nigeria, Court of Benin）
分类	金属雕塑（Metal-Sculpture）
尺寸	高 13 1/4 × 宽 10 3/4 × 深 11 1/8 英寸 (33.7 × 27.3 × 28.3 厘米)
介绍（中）	贝宁王国（即今天的尼日利亚）的领导人可以追溯到14世纪开始的一个统治王朝。"奥巴"或国王的头衔在贝宁历任国王去世时传给他的长子。在这一统治移交期间，每一位新国王的首要义务都是用青铜铸造的肖像来纪念他的父亲，并将其放置在宫殿的祭坛上。祭坛是宫殿仪式的重要场所，被认为是将过去国王的持续影响融入其后代事务的一种手段在纪念皇室祖先时，铸黄铜头指的是头部的特殊作用，它不仅指导身体，而且指导一个人的人生成功。更进一步地说，整个王国的福利取决于国王的头，而国王的头本身就是崇拜的对象。祖先祭坛上的黄铜头像生动地提醒人们，欧巴在其统治期间成功地领导了王国整体呈圆柱形，下巴上覆盖着延伸的串珠项圈，王冠上增加了珠簇，黄铜头底部有宽凸缘，这表明它属于18世纪晚期的贝宁黄铜铸造。
介绍（英）	The leaders of the kingdom of Benin in present-day Nigeria trace their origins to a ruling dynasty that began in the fourteenth century. The title of "oba," or king, is passed on to the firstborn son of each successive king of Benin at the time of his death. The first obligation of each new king during this transfer of rule is to commemorate his father with a portrait cast in bronze and placed on an altar at the palace. The altar constitutes an important site of palace ritual and is understood to be a means of incorporating the ongoing influence of past kings in the affairs of their descendents. In honoring the royal ancestors, the cast-brass heads refer to the special role of the head in directing not only the body but also a person's success in life. Taken further, the welfare of the entire kingdom depends upon the king's head, which is itself the object of worship. The placement of brass heads on the ancestral altar is a vivid reminder of the oba's role in successfully guiding the kingdom throughout his reign. The overall cylindrical shape, extended beaded collar covering the chin, addition of bead clusters to the crown, and wide flange at the base of this brass head identify it as belonging to a later period—probably late eighteenth century—of Benin brass casting.