This 16th century ivory portrait of Queen Mother Idia is among The Met’s (Metropolitan Museum of Art) most celebrated works. It is one of four related ivory pendant masks, that were among the prized regalia of the Oba of Benin, among the prestige items taken by the British during the punitive expedition of 1897.
As mother of the king, Idia wielded considerable power. Until recent times, the queen mother, who bore the oba’s first son, had no other children and devoted her life to raising the future ruler of the kingdom, a role she was destined to play even before her own birth. Queen mothers were therefore viewed as instrumental to the protection and well-being of the oba and, by extension, the kingdom.