Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
Altar (Asen)
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
© Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. All rights reserved.

Altar (Asen)

Artist/Maker (Benin)
Date20th century
Mediumiron, cotton and plant fiber
DimensionsOverall: 47 3/4 x 12 1/2 x 13 3/8 in. (121.3 x 31.8 x 34 cm)
ClassificationsVisual Works
Credit LineGift of Charles Jones
Terms
    Object number92.0034
    DescriptionThis object reflects the ritual importance of iron in connection with transformation to, or communication with, the spiritual realm. Iron is made and worked by blacksmiths, some of whom especially those in West Africa are also ritual specialists. By means of fire they transform a material of the earth into tools and weapons associated with the letting of blood in hunting, warfare, and circumcision. Their knowledge is considered secret and mysterious, and their products are essential to many activities of life from farming to rites of passage. As is typical of iron altar devices, this is made in the form of a staff so that they may be thrust into earthen altars. The Asen, which includes a scene identifying a particular individual or family, is inserted in an earthen altar in a family ancestral shrine; it represents the most particularized use of iron: for communication with the dead.
    On View
    Not on view
    Collections
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Lamp
    Dogon people
    20th century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Herbalist's Staff
    Nigeria, Yoruba people
    mid 20th century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Royal Altar Figure
    Benin Kingdom
    ca. 17th to 18th century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Fiddle and Bow
    Hausa people
    collected between 1960-1973
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Figure (Kronkrobale)
    Ewe people
    20th century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Door Lock
    Dogon people
    19th to 20th century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Standing Male Figure
    Dogon people
    not dated
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Figure
    Lobi people
    20th century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Figure
    Lobi people
    20th century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Meat Tray [Ugqogo]
    Zulu people
    not dated
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Dish
    Artist Unknown
    ca. 1830
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Male Figure [Ere Ibeji]
    Nigeria, Yoruba people
    collected between 1960-1973
    eMuseum
    Copyright © eMuseum