Digital Benin Research
British Museum
institution
W. D. Webster photograph album
archival unit
Photograph Album
document type
1898-01-01/1899-12-31
date
specific objects
Aken'ni Elao open in Ẹyo Otọ
edo designations
Webster, William Downing
source
target
Webster, William Downing
mention
Institutional metadata
Reg No.
Af,A154.1
PRN
EPF11293
Add ID/s
8838-9 (William Webster numbers)~9966-7 (William Webster numbers)~9930-1 (William Webster numbers)
Bibliography
King & Waterfield 2006: ~Webster 1900: Cat.24, figs.34, 36, 97 & 104~Webster 1900: Cat.27, figs. 73 & 75
Title/s
Benin Bronzes and Ivories (Series)
Object Name/s
photographic print (black and white)~album
Material/s
paper
Technique/s
photographic process
Description (full)
Photograph (black and white); mounted on card, part of a bound album. View of standing male figure wearing suit, shoes and gaiters, high-collared shirt, bow tie and flat cap holding two dark-stained ivory tusks in each hand with two larger carved tusks on either side. Pots with flowers behind and at side, patterned rug on floor. Photographic process.
Dimension/s
Height: 24.00 cm (page)~Width: 27.40 cm (page)
Subject/s
Previous Owner
Previous owner/ex-collection: William Downing Webster
Date/s
1898-1899 (circa)
Prod. Place/s
Photographed in: London
Assoc. Ethnic Name/s
Associated with: Edo
Assoc. Place/s
Associated with: Benin City
Assoc. Event/s
Associated Event: British Expedition to Benin City - 1897
Inscription/s
Inscription:~ Inscription details: lettering (front of mount, below photogrpah) in English~ Inscription quoted: 1. 2. 3.4. 5. Leipzig Museum. 6.~ Inscription note: Marked in pencil. Numbers allocated to objects from Kingdom of Benin, name of potential vendor.
Curator s Comment/s
This album contains photographs of objects from the Kingdom of Benin, Nigeria sold by the London-based dealer, William Downing Webster. Many of the photographs are annotated with information relating to the vendor/s and some include purchase prices. It is likely that the photographic series was compiled by Webster in the early 1900s. Objects 1,3-4 and 6 depicted in this photograph were sold by Webster probably between 1899-1903. Others sold by Webster as follows: 2. to Hans Meyer before 1913 until 1929. By descent to Elisabeth Meyer until 1946. By descent to Meyer family until 2001. Purchased from the Meyer family by the State Ethnographic Collections of Saxony - GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde, Leipzig. Accession number: MAf 34578. 5. to Hans Meyer before 1913 until 1929. By descent to Elisabeth Meyer until 1946. By descent to Meyer family until 2001. Purchased from the Meyer family by the State Ethnographic Collections of Saxony - GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde, Leipzig. Accession number: MAf 34586.
URL
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/EA_Af-A154-1_1