The kings of Benin had dedicated court artists and the wealth to commission art on a grand scale. At the palace in Benin City, Nigeria, each newly crowned king would ceremonially pour molten bronze into the form for a commemorative bronze head destined for his father’s memorial altar. This is a centuries-old tradition, where such sculptures are not only the king’s first commission, but also an artwork he helped to produce. This beautifully abstracted head has large, stylized eyes and projecting wings on the beaded coral crown, two elements that were fashionable during the reigns of Adolo (reigned 1848–1888) and Ovonramwen (reigned 1888–1897, reigned in exile until 1914).