Lot Essay
The two figures on the plaque are shown in courtly attire, with the beaded caps and high collars worn by the oba. The long, slender staffs they hold, devoid of ornament, appear to be amongst the accoutrements of an oba (see figures in various regal dress carrying similar wands illustrated by von Luschan (1919, Plates 22 and 41, and one in identical dress, p.211, fig.345).
Talbot (1926, fig.188) also illustrates a plaque with two standing figures, almost identically dressed to the present ones (they wear necklaces but carry no wands), which he describes as a portrait of the Oba Uwafe Ekun (Uwakhuahen), first shown as Crown Prince and later as Oba. If his information is correct then the figures in the present plaque might be taken to represent Esigie and his brother Aruaran, sons of Ozolua and contenders for power on the death of their father (see Ben Amos, 1980, p.24).
Talbot (1926, fig.188) also illustrates a plaque with two standing figures, almost identically dressed to the present ones (they wear necklaces but carry no wands), which he describes as a portrait of the Oba Uwafe Ekun (Uwakhuahen), first shown as Crown Prince and later as Oba. If his information is correct then the figures in the present plaque might be taken to represent Esigie and his brother Aruaran, sons of Ozolua and contenders for power on the death of their father (see Ben Amos, 1980, p.24).