OBJECT HISTORY
FIG. 3 (below):
Charles Hose, Sarawak:
Tama Bulan, a Native
Kenyah Chief, c. 1896.
Platinum print. 10.2 x 14.6 cm.
Wellcome Collection, Wellcome
Library, call no. 30567i, no. 40 in an
album of photographs of Sarawak.
61
homey court grew in power from the seventeenth
to the nineteenth centuries. In the Dahomey (Fon)
court in Abomey, each king and kpojito (the woman
who personifies the ruler after his death) was
identified with a distinct asen. The royal asen were
brought out during annual “custom” rites (fig. 2).
Historically they were positioned near the djeho
(spirit house of the king) and were secured in the
ground outside the structure, each initially covered
with a cloth. Once the cloth is removed, the asen is
given libations and other offerings, including yam,
corn, and beans, from the dadasi (paternal aunt), as
well as incantations or songs (fig. 4).
The majority of the works in the Barbier-Mueller
collection and featured in the exhibition were
created in the coastal port city of Ouidah, many
dating to the mid to late nineteenth century and,
as such, are earlier than those associated with the
Dahomey court in Abomey, which were largely destroyed
in the 1892–94 French colonial war. These
were replaced by new forms commissioned by King
Agoli-Agbo between 1894 and 1900 from the royal
guild of jewelers and smiths, the Hountondji family
blacksmith guild.
ARTIST STYLES
The asen in the Barbier-Mueller collection can be
divided into five unique artist groups. Three of
these artists were situated in Ouidah and worked
almost exclusively in iron. A fourth, in Abomey,
produced not only from iron but also brass and,
more rarely, silver. The works from Ouidah date
to the mid to late nineteenth or early twentieth
centuries, while those from Abomey were produced
in the twentieth century. Each of these
artist groups has a distinctive style. While these
differences vary and include certain subjects like
long-horned rams, rolled brimmed hats, long tunics,
and gigantic plant forms, one of the most
important distinguishing features of these artists is
the way in which each attaches the iron pendants
(togbe, or earrings) around the perimeter.
FIG. 2 (lower left): Vodun
ceremony in Ouidah.
Republic of Benin.
Photograph by Dana Rush, 2017.
An asen featuring a stool and gongform
pendants appears in the corner.
FIG. 3 (above): Postcard
showing asen for sale
in the Abomey market,
1919–1920.
From Pater Erkens, “Onze Missien
in Vogelvluch,” De Katholieke
Missiën, vol. 45 (1919–1920),
Hertogenbosch, Uden, Netherlands,
p. 72.
Courtesy of the Ross Archive of
African Images, Yale University.
.