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l'exposition Artistes d'Abomey

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Artists of Abomey

This presentation of 21 works chosen from a vast collection of works from the famous kingdom of Dahomey (1600-1894) provides the opportunity to appreciate the wealth and diversity, as much in the forms as in the materials used, of an exceptional court art. The artists retained by the kings of Abomey belonged to an elite and distinguished themselves by their talent and a know-how that was transferred from father to son. Mostly identified, individuals or collectives, these artists shed light on a flourishing periods of present-day Benin.

  • statue of the vodun Gou

    Ekplekendo Akati

  • half-man, half-lion bochio of King Behanzin

    Sossa Dede or Houeglo Family

  • Half-man, half-lion bochio of King Glele

    Likohin Kankanhau Sossa Dede

  • portable asen altar

    Vincent Lanmandoucelo Aïssi

  • Ma-wu-alo bracelets

    Hountondji Family

  • tunic of the prime minister

    Gnimavo Family and Yemadje Family

  • appliqué hanging

    Hantan and Zinflou Families or Yemadje Family

  • Asen surmounted by a panther, ancestor of the royal dynasty

    Hountondji Family

  • Lion recade, emblem of Glele

    Houndo Family (?)

  • Nukpewuinkpo throne of King Ghezo

    Anonymous

  • Ibeji statuettes

    Saki Workshop

  • royal seat

    Anonymous

  • Ade funerary crown

    Anonymous

  • amulette or bo afiyohuti

    Adanhoungbe (?)

  • Sokpo recade of Hebioso

    Hountondji and Houndo Families (?)

  • maternity carrying cup

    Anonymous

  • lonflin hammer

    Ganku Houndo

  • doors from the palace of King Glele

    Sossa Dede Family

  • Sohouan non non de o, Goundo lo nan mon

    Cyprien Tokoudagba (born around 1939)

  • King Behanzin and his family

    M. Fabre

  • <i>lonflin</i> divination hammer

    Houndo Family


statue of the vodun Gou

Ekplekendo Akati

Statue of the vodun Gou, Fon style, circa 1860, metal, wood, 71.1894.32.1, musée du quai Branly, gift of Captain Eugène Fonssagrives

Booty of war, perhaps even kidnapped, Akati was installed near the palace of King Ghezo (1818-1858). As the Beninese art historian, Joseph Adandé, reports: “This artist surpasses the spindly Fon style to create a walking figure, entirely of recovered metal, dressed in a war tunic, holding in his hands a saber of Gou and a bell. He appears to have been himself initiated into the cult of Gou, god of iron.” Seized in Ouidah, during the colonial war, this work was given to the museum of ethnography at the Trocadero by Captain Fonssagrives. In 1912, Guillaume Apollinaire considered this iron sculpture among the “first rank works of art”. It quickly joined the pantheon of African art masterpieces. Since the 1980s, the name of Akati has been associated with it.


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