Circa 1300
Master Bronze Smith

Royal Request. No information exists about the birth or death of Iguegbae (or Igueghae). According to the griots (oral historians) of Benin, Iguegbae was a master bronze smith from Ile-Ife who, at the request of the king of Benin, traveled there and taught the metalsmiths of that kingdom the lostwax technique (a method of hollow casting dating from the third millennium B.C.E.). Such generous sharing of knowledge and technical skill led to the creation of many of the outstanding works of West African art, including the famed Benin brasses (which are often inaccurately identified as the Benin bronzes).

Sources:

"Benin Bronzes," in Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, edited by Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates Jr. (New York: Basic Civitas, 1999), p. 223.

"Met Timeline—Guinea Coast, 1000-1400 A.D." (27 May 2003) .