Description

Ivie and Ekan are members of the Coral beads family. CORALS ( Phylum coelenterata ) or ( Cnidaria ) are mined from coral stones in oceans and polished as jewelry. EKAN looks like a stone and is grayish in color. IVIE is another specie of coral beads, an important type of jewelry worn by Edo chiefs. This kind is described as precious coral. It has a hard core that can be polished to bring out beautiful red, rose, or pink colors. Precious corals seems to grow in the bush-like formations in the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Japan. Oba Ewuare in the 1400’s A.D. is credited in oral tradition as the man who brought them to Benin when he stole them from the ” goddess of the Sea ” at Ughoton ( Gwatto ).