Description (Physical description)
Carved wooden figure of a kneeling man, holding a matchet in one hand and a knife in the other. He has three long pigtails down his back (To be placed on an altar?)
Event Date
Author: maa

Description (Labels & Markings)
Written on the base of the figure in pencil: '304'
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Labels & Markings)
Remains of a luggage tag attached with string, no writing remains.
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

Context (Related Documents)
See E 1910.118 and E 1913.3 records for further details about the Thomas Collection from Nigeria.
Event Date 7/5/2001
Author: maa

Context (Related Documents)
It is unclear whether 304 is the Thomas Collection number. The 1st Thomas Catalogue notes for 304: "Ogun 's wife".
Event Date 22/8/2001
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Carved wooden figure of a kneeling woman holding a staff and a knife. The figure is wearing a cap, armlets, anklets and bracelets, and has scarification marks above the eyes. There are lines incised into the torso at the front and the sides and three braids of hair hanging down at the back. The genitals are clearly carved and the figure is kneeling on a circular base on top of a further square base.
Event Date 5/9/2018
Author: Katrina Dring

Context (Amendments / updates)
Record updated as part of the Museum Affordances project 2018-2020

Event Date 5/9/2018
Author: Katrina Dring

Loan (Exhibition)
Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London, 14/10/2020 to 19/12/2020, [Re:]Entanglements
[Loan cancelled]
Event Date 14/10/2020
Author: Katrina Dring

Conservation (Remedial)
CON.2020.4865 | Remedial
Event Date 3/11/2020
Author: Stefanie Mueller

Context (Display)
On display in [Re:]Entanglements: Colonial collections in decolonial times, LKS Gallery, MAA, 22 June 2021 – 20 April 2022,
Displayed as "Ogun's wife", first on left in the Ukhurhe staff case. The text noted:
'Ukhurhe
When an Edo man dies and passes into the world of the ancestors, his eldest son commissions an ukhurhe rattle staff in his honour and places it on the family altar. Such staffs are also used by community cults associated with particular deities.
During the 1909-10 survey of Edo-speaking communities, Northcote Thomas commissioned the Eholo N’Igbesamwan – the head of Benin’s wood and ivory carvers’ guild – to make 39 staffs featuring representations of the various Edo deities. He paid £25 for the staffs, a considerable sum, equivalent to over £3,000 today.
This story challenges the assumption that ethnographic museum collections were stolen or forcibly removed from their cultural contexts. The situation was more complex and ambiguous.
We, too, commissioned an ukhurhe staff to be made by a traditional carver in Benin City. The artist, Felix Ekhator, carved a representation of the anthropologist at the top. Some denounce Thomas as a colonialist, others celebrate his efforts to document African traditional culture. Is he an ancestor worthy of commemoration?

CAPTION
Names of the Edo deities (ebo) represented on the ukhurhe staffs in the display as recorded by Northcote Thomas. The staff in the centre of the display was carved by traditional carver Felix Ekhator for this exhibition. It features a representation of Northcote Thomas at the top.

LINK
https://re-entanglements.net/ukhurhe'

Event Date 21/4/2022
Author: rachel hand