By Jimoh Babatunde
As one enters the Igun street
through the arched gateway with the inscription, “Home of Guild of
Benin Bronze Casters: World Heritage Site”, one is assailed by
popular Benin bronze works of the kings and queens and other notable
royalties as well as other artistic motif on display at various shops.
The art shops which also
display non-bronze products such as wood carvings and paintings formed
part of the bungalows that make up the well paved street of Igun
famous for bronze making.
Most houses on the street
built with mud still standing tall and strong with rusty roofs,
except with few new buildings, are on their own sights to behold. Igun-Eronmwon
quarters popularly known, as Igun Street Benin City {listed as Cultural
Heritage Site by UNESCO} is the home of the brass/bronze casting industries in
Benin. It constitutes one of the 31 guilds of the Oba of Benin, in the ancient
Benin kingdom.
The ancient guild is so secretive
and exclusive that outsiders have found virtually impossible to penetrate in
the hundreds of years it has existed. All members of the guild are related by a
common ancestry and descended of Inneh Nigun, the custodian of the street
and the bronze casters. Johnbull Ekunwe disclosed that there are about
seven families who are members of the guild with the Ehanire and Inneh families
as the heads.
Other families according to Ekunwe
who belongs to the Ehanire family are the Akenuwas and the Ossais among others.
He said the secretiveness of the guild is to against infiltration by outsider. “Look at Igbesanmwan that was famous for wood carving, because they did not protect it from outsider, today it has become a work for every dick and harry.
“ So we don’t allow people to work here. Though they may work outside like in schools, but our cast works differ from others because of the method we use.”
He said the secretiveness of the guild is to against infiltration by outsider. “Look at Igbesanmwan that was famous for wood carving, because they did not protect it from outsider, today it has become a work for every dick and harry.
“ So we don’t allow people to work here. Though they may work outside like in schools, but our cast works differ from others because of the method we use.”
The exact origin of bronze casting
in Benin kingdom is hard to establish. What is very certain is that the art has
been in practice from primordial reign of the Ogisos, the first royal dynasty
without any break though with discernible chronological stages of development.
This ancient craft passed from father to son, from generation to generation
continually to this day.
Eric Ogbemudia, the Secretary of the
Benin Bronze Casters’ Guild, an HND holder in sculpture from The Federal
Polytechnic, Auchi, once said that “There are speculations that it was
brought from Sudan or Egypt. We are researching that now. But there is the
possibility that it could have been evolved in Benin here. There were many
metal craft shops in Benin then. Metal workers made arrows, swords and daggers
for warfare long before the Europeans came. In the process of metal smelting
this particular metal could have been detected.”
Scientifically, this is a great
possibility. Bronze melts faster than iron. In between, iron stands suspended
above bronze liquid – the only condition in which the heavy metal stands
suspended on the surface of any liquid – thereby producing a distinct raw
material for any creative metal worker.
Just like Johnbull Ekunwa,
Jeff Eholor grew up practicing without learning as they were both born
into it, I have been here since I was born, my parents are from
this area. What interest me in bronze carving is because I grew in it, saw my
father doing it and did not learn it.” said Ekunwa.
In traditional Benin; before the
invasions, of Benin Empire, in 1897 by British forces. The Oba controlled the
production and the distribution of brass/bronze arts work no single individual
have any right to own any of the production process in those days except with
the permission of the Oba of Benin.
The story is very different today,
visitors are free to admire, witness bronze casting from the various
stages purchase any piece of their choice without let or hindrance. This is
probably one of the most patronized tourist attractions in Benin kingdom/Edo
state.
“People do come here to buy bronze ,
as a young man growing up, this street was a tourist centre as people come from
all over the world to buy bronze works, but these days, we hardly see the whites
coming around.” Ekunwe disclosed.
While lamenting the dearth of
tourists, Johnbul Ekunwe attributed the security situation as a factor that
could have driven the tourist the tourists away. “Yes, might be due
to fear of security. As a young man there were lots of them who just walk
freely here, even some entering our mothers rooms, but today they
come with armed security.”
Jeff Eholor added that before now
from all over the world, arts lovers, historians, ethnologists, anthropologists
and indeed all categories of tourists troupe to Igun Street to behold the
marvel of Benin bronze culture come here , but today not a view pay for a
foundry demonstration of the production process.”
Patronage has grown beyond the
traditional court collection circle. From all over the world people come to
acquire Igun bronze works. Apart from direct collectors, there are arts
dealers, especially those located within big hotels and other such outlets
frequented by tourists and collector, who come an purchase in bulk for retailing.
The curious can still experience the
good old bronze casting process. Little had changed over the centuries. The
lost wax method still reigns supreme.
Clay is moulded into desired shape.
Then the envisaged object is shaped in wax. Another layer of clay coats the
well-shaped artistic design. The next step is the firing stage. As the heat
rises to up to 700 degrees centigrade, wax of course disintegrates into
nothingness literally evaporating into thin – or thick – air. While this is
progressing, the bronze is being heated. At 800 degrees, it melts. The molten
bronze is then poured in to replace the absent wax through a funnel space
created in the moulding process.
The entire thing cools down and
there emerges the precious object. Cleaning, filing, scraping and other
finishes complete the process after the clay that had fulfilled its part of the
creative process has been dislodged, crushed for tomorrow’s production
schedule.
To date, women are not allowed into
the ogun ogwa, the foundry where the production of Benin bonze takes place.
They can purchase products for further marketing anyway or assist their
spouses, parents and relations in the later stage of the creative sojourn.
Women’s presence at the foundry is a taboo kept over the centuries.
