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
Ikẹgobọ open in Ẹyo Otọ
Ẹroro open in Ẹyo Otọ
Okpia open in Ẹyo Otọ
edo designations
Webster, William Downing
source
target
Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin
Weltmuseum Wien
Pitt-Rivers (Lane Fox), Augustus Henry
Museum für Völkerkunde, Dresden
mention
Institutional metadata
Reg No.
Af,A154.53
PRN
EPF11254
Add ID/s
6382 (William Webster number)~6935 (William Webster number)~7135-7 (William Webster numbers)
Bibliography
King & Waterfield 2006: ~Webster 1898-9: Cat.21, figs.122-126
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 five objects: brass figure with hands in front; brass bell; brass figure with sword; two brass altars of the hand. 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: inscription (front of mount; below photograph) in English~ Inscription quoted: 122. Bronze figure. 16 1/2 inches high. £25.0.0. sold to Gen Pitt. Rivers. 123. Bronze bell. 9 inches high. £7.0.0. sold to Dresden Museum. 124. Bronze figure. 18 1/2 inches high. £25.0.0. sold to Berlin Museum. 125. Bronze base. with seven figures. 10 5/8 inches high. £35.0.0. sold to Vienna Museum. 126. Bronze base. with seven figures. 10 1/8 inches high. £35.0.0. sold to Dresden Museum.~ Inscription note: Handwritten in black ink. Description of objects from the Kingdom of Benin, with indicative purchase prices and names of vendors.
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. The objects depicted in this photograph were sold by William Webster as follows: 122. unknown. 123. to Arthur Baessler in 1899. Donated by Baessler in same year to the State Ethnographic Collections of Saxony - Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden. Accession number: 16105. 124. to the Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in 1899. Accession number: III C 9948. 125. to the Weltmuseum Wien (Vienna) in 1901. Accession number: VO_68699. 126. to Arthur Baessler in 1899. Donated by Baessler in same year to the State Ethnographic Collections of Saxony - Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden. Accession number: 16110.
URL
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/EA_Af-A154-53