I Hold in My Hand…: Prestige, Rank, and Power

Abstract

The oríkì1 of High Chief Elerewe of Ọ̀wọ̀ refers to “a well-born person who holds the staff of brass” (omalóreye te òpá ude).2 To hold a brass òpá (staff) indicates position within a structured and ranked social and political system. Objects held in the hand can be seen as extensions of the individual's presentation of self through dress. In his discussion of dress as performance, Rowland Abiodun emphasizes the transformation and redefinition of the self through attire, an essential component of one's iwa, the fundamental nature of a person or thing. For this reason, he suggests, the Yoruba say, “Aọṣ là ńkí a tó ki ènìyàn”: “We greet Aọṣ before we greet its wearer” (Abiodun 2014: 142).From ancient times, Yoruba notables, including royals, nobles, priests, and those acting for them, have performed their roles in the cultural hierarchy through presentation of self in dress. In doing so they have not only donned sumptuous robes and crowns but have manipulated numerous items grasped in the hand to indicate position. Wielding such objects often alludes to one's place within the chain of command or suggests ritual activity.Excavations in both Ife and Ọ̀wọ̀ reveal that such objects were important centuries ago. A brass figure of a high-ranking individual, possibly an Oni of Ife, holds what is interpreted as a scepter in the right hand and an animal horn, construed as filled with powerful medicines (or perhaps an iroke), in the left, recognizing both the political and sacred roles of the individual (Fig. 1).3 Terracotta fragments from Ọ̀wọ̀ excavations suggest that important personages clutched significant objects, such as two horns (Fig. 2), representing objects, one held in each hand, to be tapped together, reminiscent of the way members of the ayoyo age grade of the Ulórò4ugbama today carry buffalo horns (ogho efan) as percussive instruments during important ritual commemorations for the fourteenth century Queen Oronshen (Fig. 3).5While there is no way to document various objects used over the centuries to brandish during celebrations or to hold before rulers, oral traditions maintained by chieftaincy titles name various types of regalia given to a title upon its inauguration. Furthermore, photographs in the twentieth century point to the importance of such. For example, when the twenty-ninth Olọ́wọ̀, Sir Olateru Olagbegi II,6 posed for Time/Life photographer Eliot Elisofon, he no doubt purposely posed himself to show off symbols of kingship (Fig. 4). While the crown is still the most significant item of regalia for the Olọ́wọ̀, as it is for any Yoruba Ọba (king), Olagbegi II chose to be photographed with additional objects, calling attention to his position at the top of a distinguished hierarchy. In posing for Elisofon, Olagbegi II held a white horsetail whisk with beaded handle (ùrùnkèrè) and wore a circlet of royal beads (àkọn) along with a long necklace (goolu asokanle). His place was marked by the quasiarchitectural umbrella (àkàtà).7 Elephant tusks (upè erin), traditionally reserved for royalty, framed his body. A page (uma'da) held the adá (state sword) before him.8 While it was a page and not Olagbegi II himself who gripped the adá when the king sat in state or appeared in public, he would have grasped a historic one himself, one connected with a previous king, during rituals of installation. Figure 5 shows the current Olọ́wọ̀, Ogunoye III, lifting an adá associated with the eighteenth Olọ́wọ̀, Otutubosun, during ceremonies conducted when he was installed as Ọba in 2019.9But kings are not the only members of the court demonstrating position in the hierarchy through such regalia. For example, in 1949 High Chief Ariyo posed for anthropologist Justine Cordwell, demonstrating for her the elegant dress and accouterments worn by a person of rank (Fig. 6). He wore udàìghà (cap of coral or jasper beads), pàkátò (coral or jasper sash), and a voluminous wrapper over appliqued trousers. Of interest to us for the purposes of this article, however, the Ariyo displayed several other objects. He held in his right hand a type of dance sword (ape, pronounced “ahkpay”; since there is no “p” sound in Yoruba, it is a “ko” sound) and in his left a brass “horsetail” (iyaṣin omalóre). On his left hip he wore an udamalore, in this case a bead-decorated wooden sword in an ornately decorated scabbard, which rested on an ostentatious bead embroidery element—ẹ̀já.As Abiodun, who grew up in Ọ̀wọ̀, has pointed out, “Ọ̀wọ̀ has always had an insatiable appetite for the most elaborate and expensive traditional cultural and social institutions” (Abiodun 1989: 104). The regalia associated with the pomp and pageantry of the celebrations and rituals associated with these institutions call for the most impressive items available. The people of Ọ̀wọ̀ love to participate in the festivities, and Ọ̀wọ̀ artists have always been ready to create striking objects to liven up such lavish visual feasts.In this article, we examine various items of regalia held in the hand to call attention to the rank and prestige of notables during cultural events in the courts of Ọ̀wọ̀. Although ceremonial in function now, many of the objects derive from weaponry. They no doubt relate to histories of warfare important in the development of the kingdom. Yoruba monarchies in general and the Edo kingdom of Benin ail have histories of war and conquest. Weaponry that allowed success in defending or extending boundaries likely provided prototypes for the ceremonial forms alluding to power, position, and rank. Historian Robert Smith observed that two-edged straight or gently tapering swords characteristic of the Middle Ages in Europe and in Islamic countries were well-known among the Yoruba (Smith 1967: 91). Many of the objects under consideration surely descend from such weapons.While kings and other dignitaries continue to display objects as potent symbols of rank in the twenty-first century, it is apparent that changes have taken place. The adá is still restricted in use in Ọ̀wọ̀ to those who have the right to rule as Ọba (Fig. 7). The Olọ́wọ̀, as paramount ruler, is honored by the instrument being held before by an as he in state or in The of the adá has over and the state swords of are in the such regalia in and the of the adá numerous are apparent in other gripped in the is in any objects, are used only On objects are and with or brass The of have in the of of is in the is in In brass that are but that there is a to (Fig. the was those not have been for times, and the use and for example, have been objects those of the of photographed by Justine in 1949 (Fig. and that held in by Ogunoye during his (Fig. traditional objects. While the swords have the the of the is its of the held by the of each at a to the swords are so a of that of adá and often the kingdom. For example, an in an in the symbols of crown or of royalty, and adá and (Fig. A use of these symbols is on the of the a crown with adá and with the of (Fig. The use of such Ọ̀wọ̀ the in his such as the for the of is among the (Fig. objects that position and rank in Ọ̀wọ̀, we the of sword and òpá and regalia is not to the and of various and other items of regalia grasped in the hand have long as symbols of in many regalia held by notables as but that ceremonial objects as significant in of that emphasizes the position held by the individual has state hold swords to to indicate their to their roles in ritual events such as a paramount The a sword to the of other swords to carry and are important court and and and the carry with for those who carry swords or in of their objects be used for to a or to that is on of the including objects, a of titles among the the court to an of power, and his within the in of and and in A of in the most important forms for the king and are of for and held objects the of of or and and dress and regalia not only sacred kingship but of of and were always held by the king when he wore dress to in of the king were a was the state sword at the left of and as of position. of held as and kings and and as symbols of both and power, to position and the as extensions of the objects and The of for and roles in ritual and and as and were among objects in royal of and and regalia for kings and that in Ọ̀wọ̀. The state sword the of was one of the most important items of of both and it before the Ọba in and held it before when he sat in types of or the of the king, often with brass or representing the with of with ceremonial swords with and brass Chief chieftaincy titles within the two of significant on the of the kingdom. The of are the of the who the from For centuries they as an and court and important roles in and and of as the fourteenth century, the Olọ́wọ̀, the a of titles on for for or for the of who in the century, of were given In the political of these and grew so that they political the 1989: High as of through dress and on the of and of the Ọ̀wọ̀ still carry objects interpreted by as within a hierarchy that has for a not of type or a can a and but the still the for In artists and title objects the of those changes in the is a Yoruba kingdom. and of point to Ife as its excavations in the Ọ̀wọ̀ that when the ruler, left Ife, he was given a an and a by his the of court as as of visual the kingdom was for a Benin it was to other of Yoruba to and is by other in Ọ̀wọ̀ and Benin to have over Ọ̀wọ̀ and a of Yoruba Ọ̀wọ̀ to Benin Ọ̀wọ̀ was a significant with to to and to during his in of Ọ̀wọ̀ and was to its in that he was was the in that Ọ̀wọ̀ from the Yoruba a or so as as its to the her with other and cultural the nature of Ọ̀wọ̀ The Yoruba of Ife and both of which to the traditions and visual of royal courts in the were in position Ife and and the that Benin to over most Yoruba in the and of Ọ̀wọ̀ a at Edo Benin is a as the from Ọ̀wọ̀, and they a such as and Elerewe were that Ọ̀wọ̀ court traditions were by those of The of Ọ̀wọ̀ is that it was through and royal that the two are The that an Ọ̀wọ̀ as a state to the Ọba of Benin in the century is in Ọ̀wọ̀ by the that this was through royal On the of his left Benin the or the of the Ọba and was at the of the is with Benin court and to Ọ̀wọ̀. Olọ́wọ̀, in the of the eighteenth century, coral and jasper bead is no doubt that cultural place. Ọ̀wọ̀ and Ọ̀wọ̀ objects were used in the Edo and it is that Ọ̀wọ̀ artists in a Benin through or royal was in Ọ̀wọ̀. a of Ọ̀wọ̀ are so those of and court rituals and ceremonies have such to court that Ọ̀wọ̀ would to be an Edo kingdom. of the most forms is the state and both use the adá for the traditional Yoruba the for was associated with and the of and people in Ọ̀wọ̀ to traditional but for centuries artists to In the kingdom has long been for artists in who objects from at the fourteenth impressive at an important cultural and ritual in Ọ̀wọ̀. for Benin as as for and brass with to the attention of a that the of the king and in impressive objects at and as they the beaded not only for the king but for as the a of royal Chief the of ceremonial objects in the to that the regalia was and position has not been filled for at since the of Olagbegi on and staff to the and ceremonial objects are in place and ready for are each for their of and objects used at with artists to up to with the of dress and lavish ceremonial regalia are from a of has long been associated with royalty, and Ọ̀wọ̀ was a Ọ̀wọ̀ artists were in objects not only for the and the but for the king of the most important for kings and among the Yoruba, While was used for objects, a of forms were from the such as the Abiodun and bead embroidery is associated with and in use to and of be used as in the case when are with or brass and decorated with of kingship and that the kings were it is that would roles in regalia. Yoruba not a king, is as a that the to and Yoruba the a to to the the on an those was of who had the still in before he on that the of to Yoruba traditions the of and the of of He was to the to the the the for these and was the of He was the he the used for who used in the honored Abiodun is to and of the most potent objects are of the are associated with both Yoruba and that of with Ọ̀wọ̀ had to the of Yoruba a type of sword in had a the would have (Smith 1967: Robert Smith that of sword have from the type of and the of the for which the is and the in which the point is Smith that the sword is a of displayed at or for such as the of an Ọba or the of a The adá is surely a to the swords of war and an to the of that the adá of Benin from used during of the of its In the the over and and is most to the Edo Benin to Yoruba to the and it was the along with coral that was to to their to the Edo kingdom are used for several The an adá from a of swords to the of a He the adá during ceremonies (Fig. The in the of a king suggests the type of the adá of white be displayed on and a page holds an adá in coral before the when he at the or in the to (Fig. from Yoruba prototypes or from the adá is the most important in the kingdom. A of the Benin adá (Fig. and the Ọ̀wọ̀ adá that the is the a sword with a A are of other are with or brass it the adá is the instrument that that the have not of the as artists have with other grasped in the dance sword of Ọ̀wọ̀ is the of has a and the of the is reminiscent of the of a (Fig. the is a brass on a to that of the of or it is not as restricted in use as the can use and today it is used on by has seen over the essential of the In times, and titles are and out, as in Figure the the title of the who on the A and when they or to the for or is to were with (Fig. create Ogunoye at his the (Fig. by the of a crown at the of the has the in the and the titles and Ogunoye of their way the of each While the in his right hand is reminiscent of traditional that in his left hand is of two of at right to each types of prestige swords are elegant show during are to as the as the is long and in of In its the Ọ̀wọ̀ has a or with a and While it was used for it be used for or of of brass prestige for at left, For example, one of the of the brass is the of His title as the of since the of the title were war of the kingdom who with the sword on of the In Figure a brass at his by the of the The that the type (Fig. are used by as objects. (Fig. have the and associated with but the pointed is with and with the title and name of the are show in but on those who are not For example, dance with the ceremonial sword during events that the during the when the members of the dance through the to the of a and decorated is a of be of of of with bead or a of are objects demonstrating the of in the in the of the of (Fig. and the The on the of each is a an a beaded worn by and The and are of Ọ̀wọ̀ A long as the to suggest of The of the the shows two of associated with the is by a figure representing an an adá or an in his right hand, his left in He a and a ceremonial sword at his left perhaps an A to the beaded in the of the of of the The by the beaded in the to an (Fig. that in the example, the on the an The is in the of the and The alluding to and rank. often that on The forms at the top and of the to and The on the is on many and is in to and was seen as a for the has to with and the of the which is seen as and The the refers to an Ọ̀wọ̀ The figure to a objects in the are today and two are to have worn beaded at the The one worn by the was a wooden its with beads in a of on a (Fig. The is an of a crown with in The the is an of a hand a the at the possibly an both have taken up bead and this was by who and at her the use of udamalore, has the type of prestige is in Ọ̀wọ̀ have ostentatious in the has The is a sword not only by but by a of other The from the to a at the (Fig. A are in however, are and the title and name of the are in in the to a of as that has of the forms the in the and (Fig. by are to be used by or for those who are The of are carry during brandish to and from the or when they to the for celebrations by individual with the the of a one use one during In this case it can be by who are not and by as they the members of the in the to the to important as royal of a and a of the Ọ̀wọ̀ to his for in the Ogunoye with an impressive (Fig. call for the as For example, the of Ọ̀wọ̀, an when he his (Fig. before those with he gripped a the appliqued and associated with along the of to the The of displayed along the of the and the to the as were among the from to they were used the of A century to Benin Ọ̀wọ̀ with it is likely that coral from the that In Ọ̀wọ̀, however, it is white with decorated in that are reserved for the or of who carry as symbols of only the and of carry the white the of of and the of carry long during are the of when of and dance during and in other type of to as (iyaṣin of the A brass is used to the to brass from a and from a at the top sound and visual the posed for (Fig. he one in his left Although both and dance with it is who use it for and chieftaincy In Figure installed and carry to their way to and from to observed the use of as regalia over a long as the in the court of The and on such the the and were among the many to as in the interpreted not such as they were a type of to many types of were Ọ̀wọ̀, several types of òpá to or as of any of the and given as their way Ọ̀wọ̀ would the of the and to types of be in the from or from òpá of is during by a of state as an Ọ̀wọ̀ Ogunoye a brass staff with an crown at his (Fig. carry ostentatious with a (Fig. carry a which still to the of the The most are of but the òpá is often of decorated with beads or a of or create various of the as is the case with that of the of (Fig. The staff was by a bead from Ọ̀wọ̀, but the was by the brass be by to are of with no brass or In a create the can such as the on the alluding to the of the Ọba of the of (Fig. A be as was the case of the staff by the of Ọ̀wọ̀, the to be given a title traditionally held by The of such are with its A in the of an or brass be used by titles associated in the with the of type of staff up of in are used on a of are from a traditionally used to The are used as by to those by members of the during not be used for in and associated with ancient the of the age grade carry the from other as not carry in this the are In these events the the of the of the fourteenth century On one ritual the the to the with in one and in as in from the can be to create a type of òpá by (Fig. and are from a to his They are that were used in ritual On when a within the is it can be and other sacred objects to these ritual and The his òpá of on the on when a is to the on the before on of on when the for and other ritual objects are for to and on the of the of on long are as While were traditionally of today they can be from The Olọ́wọ̀, the and carry a with a long by a as they during In Figure the Olọ́wọ̀, in or holds the in his left hand and the with his held by in the grade hold during are and during performed by the the are from They the and to their at the a well-born individual and a one type of of two with and two with pointed connected to the by a the the of the from and the of use such symbols of for While for the people and the Olọ́wọ̀, they it to the In to the the and it to by this type is an ancient with and and the of the title the to the not to the individual but to the is a “a to of his and are his a or type of used by the was traditionally a with a and the used by the and the was of but the current one of brass (Fig. In the example, by each with a to a long with numerous The with an and are important instruments in Ọ̀wọ̀ numerous the traditionally on to the to various of and held by dignitaries in important is the of the that the most important is for the instrument is a hand of animal or in (Fig. carry for the when he in The is and in is decorated with of and use the as a as but they upon when in or

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