Brass cockerels cast between the 17th and 19th centuries functioned as commemorative sculptures placed on ancestral altars dedicated to deceased queen mothers in the royal courts of Benin. These objects, known as eson in the Edo language, abbreviated from the praise name "Eson, Ogoro Madagba" meaning "the cock that crows at the head of the harem," honored the Oba's first wife who held administrative rank equivalent to senior town chiefs. Approximately two dozen examples survive in museum collections worldwide, most measuring between 15 and 25 centimeters in height and weighing several kilograms depending on size and wall thickness. The seemingly male symbolism contradicted the subjects' gender, as cockerels specifically represented the unique position of queen mothers who transcended ordinary female status and shared powers and privileges with men. British soldiers looted numerous examples during the February 1897 military assault on Benin City, dispersing them to institutions including the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum Five Continents in Munich, and Jesus College Cambridge. The Jesus College example, named Okukor, became the first Benin Bronze returned to Nigeria by a British institution when students Amatey Doku and Ore Ogunbiyi successfully campaigned for its repatriation, completed in October 2021 after 124 years in England.
Material and Craftsmanship
The Igun Eronmwon guild cast cockerel sculptures using brass rather than bronze, employing the lost-wax technique that characterized Benin metalwork from the 13th century onwards. The brass consisted primarily of copper alloyed with zinc, obtained through European trade after Portuguese contact in 1485. Manillas, horseshoe-shaped brass bracelets manufactured in the Rhineland region of Germany and traded by Portuguese merchants, provided raw material that artisans melted down for casting.
The production process began with creating a clay core slightly smaller than the intended final sculpture. Artisans covered this core with beeswax, modeling the cockerel's form including body, head, tail, legs, and comb. The wax layer thickness, typically 3 to 6 millimeters, determined the finished sculpture's wall dimensions. Every decorative element documenting the bird's anatomy and plumage was carved into the wax surface with exceptional attention to detail.
The surface decoration required extraordinary patience and precision. Benin brass casters demonstrated particular enthusiasm for dense overall patterns covering entire sculptures. The cockerel's body received geometric designs suggesting feathering through incised lines, cross-hatching, and stippled textures. The patterns stylized rather than naturalistically rendered plumage, creating abstract representations that captured the essence of feather structure without attempting photographic accuracy. The legs displayed scale-like textures achieved through repeated small impressions carved into wax. The comb received dimpled treatment creating bumpy surface suggesting the fleshy protuberance crowning the bird's head.
After completing the wax model, casters applied multiple layers of fine clay mixed with organic materials over the entire assembly, creating an outer mold. Channels were left open to allow wax drainage and metal flow. The assembly was dried thoroughly, then heated to melt out the wax, leaving a hollow cavity between the inner core and outer mold matching every carved detail.
Molten brass heated to approximately 1000 degrees Celsius was poured into this cavity. The metal filled the space formerly occupied by wax, replicating even the finest incised patterns decorating the wax surface. After cooling for several hours, casters broke away the outer clay mold and removed the inner core, revealing the finished cockerel. Surface finishing involved filing away rough edges where casting channels had been attached, smoothing seams, and polishing the brass to desired luster.
The base supporting the cockerel received decorative treatment equal to the bird itself. Abstract scrollwork and geometric patterns covered the platform, and some examples show additional motifs positioned in front of the bird that may represent food offerings. This comprehensive decoration transformed functional support into integral component of the overall artistic composition.
Dating cockerel sculptures relies on stylistic analysis, patina examination, use-wear patterns, and metal composition rather than definitive historical documentation. High zinc content typically indicates 19th-century production, as does the use of iron core pins. Earlier examples from the 17th and 18th centuries show different brass compositions reflecting evolving trade relationships and material availability. The corpulence of the bird and the nature of surface detailing provide additional chronological indicators, though scholarly consensus remains tentative pending comprehensive metallurgical analysis of surviving examples.
Form and Features
Benin brass cockerels exhibit consistent compositional elements despite individual variations in size, proportion, and decorative elaboration. The sculptures show proud, erect birds standing firmly on both legs with tails raised and heads held high. This posture conveys authority and dominance appropriate to objects commemorating powerful women who commanded royal harems and influenced political decisions.
The body proportions emphasize volume and weight rather than naturalistic anatomy. Many examples display corpulent torsos suggesting well-fed prosperity and abundance. This visual emphasis on fullness connects to broader Benin aesthetic preferences associating physical bulk with wealth, status, and divine favor. The exaggerated body mass transforms ordinary barnyard fowl into symbols of accumulated power and resources.
The head receives careful anatomical attention despite overall stylization. The beak opens or closes depending on individual sculpture. Eyes appear as raised circular elements or incised depressions. The comb rises prominently from the skull, its dimpled surface creating textural contrast against the smooth or patterned body. Wattles hanging beneath the beak add anatomical specificity identifying the bird as male chicken rather than generic avian form.
The tail feathers curve upward in characteristic cockerel display. The individual feather elements may be rendered as discrete units or merged into unified mass decorated with patterns suggesting plumage texture. The tail's verticality adds height to sculptures, creating visual dynamism and upward movement that draws viewers' attention from base to summit.
The legs demonstrate technical skill in casting narrow vertical elements supporting substantial weight. The feet spread across the base platform, the splayed toes distributing load and ensuring stability. The legs' surface treatment includes scale patterns documenting precise observation of actual chicken anatomy despite the sculpture's overall stylized approach. Some examples show remarkable detail in rendering individual toe joints and claw structures.
The extensive surface patterning covering most cockerel sculptures represents Benin casters' particular affinity for decorative elaboration. Geometric designs including diamonds, cross-hatching, parallel lines, zigzags, and stippled areas create visual complexity across body, tail, and base. These patterns serve both aesthetic and symbolic functions, the repetitive geometric elements creating visual rhythms while potentially encoding meanings legible to initiated viewers familiar with Benin iconographic conventions.
The base platforms vary in shape and decoration. Some show simple circular or oval forms providing stable foundations. Others display more elaborate designs with raised edges, decorative borders, or relief elements positioned near the cockerel's feet. The integration of bird and base into unified sculptural composition demonstrates careful planning of overall proportions and visual balance.
Function and Use
Brass cockerels functioned exclusively on ancestral altars commemorating deceased queen mothers, a highly specific ritual context distinguishing them from other Benin bronze categories serving different ceremonial purposes. The altars, constructed in palace courtyards dedicated to particular deceased Iyoba, assembled multiple object types including commemorative heads, carved ivory tusks, altar bells, rattle staffs, and the cockerel sculptures into complex assemblages mediating between living and ancestral realms.
The cockerel's placement on these altars referenced sacrificial practices honoring royal ancestors. Fowl, particularly roosters, constituted standard offerings during rituals performed at ancestral shrines. The brass cockerels stood for actual animals sacrificed during ceremonies, creating permanent representations of temporary offerings. When living roosters were killed and their blood poured over altar objects during sacrifices, the brass cockerels witnessed and absorbed this spiritual nourishment alongside other metal sculptures.
The choice of cockerel imagery to commemorate queen mothers operated through complex symbolic logic. The praise name "Eson, Ogoro Madagba," "the cock that crows at the head of the harem," applied specifically to the Oba's first wife, whose responsibilities included organizing and controlling the royal harem, training junior wives in court etiquette, and performing administrative and political duties. Her position granted her the highest rank in Benin society achievable by women, equivalent to senior male chiefs. The cockerel, an aggressively male creature dominating henhouses and announcing daybreak, provided appropriate metaphor for a woman who commanded female hierarchies and exercised masculine forms of authority.
This gender crossing operated within Edo cultural logic distinguishing biological sex from social gender. The queen mother transcended ordinary female categories through her political power, ritual importance, and proximity to the Oba. The brass cockerel visualized this liminal status, depicting male creature to honor female person whose social position incorporated masculine attributes. The sculpture acknowledged that the Iyoba was "different from other women" and participated in privileges normally reserved for men.
The annual ceremonies performed at queen mother altars required the presence of cockerel sculptures alongside other regalia. During these rites, family members and palace officials gathered to offer prayers, pour libations, sacrifice animals, and petition ancestral spirits for guidance and protection. The brass cockerel, permanently stationed on the altar, served as focal point for these devotions and as witness to promises made between living and dead.
The Jesus College cockerel's particular history illustrates how these objects functioned within broader systems of royal commemoration. George William Neville, who looted the sculpture during the 1897 British assault, was a shipping agent and member of the Legislative Council of the Colony of Lagos. His privileged position allowed him to appropriate numerous objects, which he transported to England and later gifted to Jesus College in 1905. The college accepted the cockerel partly because their institutional crest featured a cockerel derived from founder Bishop John Alcock's family arms, creating coincidental visual correspondence between looted African sculpture and English heraldic tradition.
Cultural Context
The institution of queen mother in Benin traced to Oba Esigie's 16th-century reign. According to oral tradition, Esigie elevated his mother Idia to unprecedented political prominence after she used supernatural powers to help him defeat his brother Arhuaran in civil war and repel foreign invasion from the Igala kingdom. Esigie created the title Iyoba and built a separate palace at Uselu where his mother could maintain her own court and exercise administrative authority. This innovation established precedent for succeeding Obas to honor their mothers through similar appointments.
The Iyoba's palace at Uselu functioned as semi-autonomous administrative center. She controlled towns and villages assigned as her territorial domain, collected tribute from these areas, maintained her own officials and servants, and participated in major political decisions affecting the kingdom. Her death triggered elaborate funeral ceremonies and the construction of commemorative altars in the palace where brass cockerels and other regalia preserved her memory and maintained spiritual connections between living court and deceased matriarch.
The theological framework underlying ancestral veneration in Benin emphasized that deceased persons who fulfilled their social destinies during life became ancestors capable of influencing events in the living world. The queen mother, having occupied the highest female position and exercised exceptional political power, became particularly potent ancestral spirit after death. Her altar required appropriate material expressions of her status, including brass sculptures demonstrating the wealth and divine favor characterizing her earthly reign.
The brass casters' guild maintained hereditary monopoly over metal sculpture production for royal patrons. This organizational structure ensured technical knowledge transmission across generations while preventing unauthorized access to royal artistic production. The guild's location in the Igun Eronmwon quarter of Benin City created geographical concentration of metalworking expertise directly controlled by the Oba's authority. Only guild members could cast cockerels and other brass objects for royal altars, making these sculptures markers of legitimate aristocratic status.
The European trade relationships providing brass manillas for sculpture production connected Benin metalwork to global commercial networks. Portuguese, Dutch, English, and French merchants competed for access to Benin's pepper, ivory, cloth, and enslaved persons, exchanging European manufactured goods including metal, textiles, and firearms. This commerce enriched the kingdom and funded artistic patronage, allowing unprecedented production of brass sculptures including cockerels for expanding numbers of queen mother altars.
Discovery and Preservation
British forces under Admiral Harry Rawson invaded Benin City on February 18, 1897, following the January massacre of Acting Consul-General James Robert Phillips and most of his delegation. The military assault resulted in palace looting, removal of an estimated 10,000 objects, and systematic burning of the city. Brass cockerels were among the thousands of items soldiers appropriated during the destruction.
George William Neville acquired the Jesus College cockerel during this looting. Contemporary accounts describe Neville loading such large quantities of Benin objects that a commandant advised him to "push off as quickly as possible" to avoid scrutiny. Neville transported his acquisitions to England, later donating the cockerel to Jesus College Cambridge in 1905. The college accepted the gift gratefully, noting the appropriateness of receiving a bronze cockerel given the institution's cockerel crest.
The sculpture remained on display in Jesus College dining hall for over a century until student activists Amatey Doku and Ore Ogunbiyi identified its origins in 2015 and launched a repatriation campaign. Their efforts coincided with broader movements addressing colonial legacies and demanding return of looted cultural property. In February 2016, they submitted an 11-page report to the college student union arguing the cockerel needed to be returned to "the community from which it was stolen."
The college removed the cockerel from public display in March 2016 and established a Legacy of Slavery Working Party to investigate the institution's historical connections to slavery and colonialism. By November 2019, the working party published recommendations including restitution of objects and funding research into slavery's legacies. The college council agreed in 2019 that the cockerel "belongs with the current Oba at the Court of Benin" and should be returned to Nigeria.
Legal complexities required navigating English charity law governing disposal of donated property. Jesus College applied to the Charity Commission for England and Wales under Section 106 of the Charities Act 2011 for authorization to transfer the bronze to the Oba of Benin. The Commission granted approval in December 2020, clearing legal obstacles to repatriation.
The formal handover ceremony occurred on October 27, 2021, at Jesus College. Sonita Alleyne, Master of Jesus College, presented the cockerel to Professor Abba Isa Tijani, Director-General of Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments. Alleyne stated this was "an historic moment" and "the right thing to do out of respect for the unique heritage and history of this artefact." Tijani responded that "This return offers new hope for amicable resolution in cultural property ownership disputes."
The cockerel traveled to Nigeria and was formally presented to Oba Ewuare II at the palace in Benin City in February 2022 alongside a bronze head of an Oba returned by the University of Aberdeen. Charles Edosonmwan, spokesperson for the Oba's palace, emphasized during the ceremony that "They are not just art but they are things that underline the significance of our spirituality."
The Jesus College repatriation established precedent influencing subsequent returns. Germany announced plans in 2021 to return hundreds of Benin objects. The Netherlands returned 119 pieces in February 2025. The Metropolitan Museum of Art transferred ownership of three works. The Smithsonian Institution drafted its first restitution policy in 2022 and committed to returning its Benin holdings. These institutional actions demonstrate the momentum generated by student activism and the Jesus College example.
Why It Matters
Benin brass cockerels document sophisticated symbolic systems that employed male animal imagery to honor powerful women whose social positions transcended ordinary gender categories in precolonial African monarchies. The sculptures demonstrate technical mastery of lost-wax casting combined with aesthetic preferences for dense decorative patterning that transformed functional altar objects into elaborate artistic compositions. The specific association between cockerels and queen mother altars illustrates the complexity of Benin ritual practice, where different object categories served precisely defined ceremonial contexts within broader ancestral veneration systems. The successful student-led campaign at Jesus College Cambridge resulting in Okukor's 2021 repatriation established important precedent for institutional returns of looted cultural property, demonstrating how grassroots activism can overcome legal and bureaucratic obstacles that stalled official restitution negotiations for decades. The continuing spiritual significance emphasized by Oba Ewuare II's representatives during the return ceremony confirms that these objects retain religious importance despite 124 years of separation from original ritual contexts, challenging assumptions that prolonged museum custody transforms sacred materials into purely aesthetic artifacts.