Ẹyo Otọ

Ẹyo Otọ

Ẹyo Otọ is a learning space about the objects and their Edo designations. Listen, view and read about their use, production and function.

Catalogue

Catalogue

Search, filter and explore data, images and linked research for 5,285 objects from 137 institutions in twenty countries.

Institutions

Institutions

View objects listed in the 137 institutions in twenty countries currently holding historical Benin objects in their collections.

Provenance

Provenance

Study the roles, biographies and object relations of provenance names found in the information provided by 137 institutions.

Map

Map

Explore a present day map of Edo South (ancient Benin Kingdom) and Benin City. See the current location of the historical objects worldwide.

Oral History

Oral History

Listen to oral traditions Benin people share, to transmit and preserve knowledge and cultural traditions from one generation to another.

Itan Edo

Itan Edo

Itan Edo is the story of Benin Kingdom. Read about the cultural and historical trajectories related to kings, queens, guilds and more.

Archival Documents

Archival Documents

Access the digitised archival documents that relate to the historic Benin objects, their provenance stories and the wider history of Benin Kingdom.

Archival Institutions

Archival Institutions

Explore a source guide of institutions that hold archival material related to the Benin Kingdom, its history and the objects shown on the platform.

Digital research tools

Digital research tools

Study data on the platform with digital research tools and visualisations.

About the project

Denver Art Museum
Object ID: 1955.317
Institution media
1 Images
Digital Benin research
Digital Benin linked field
Value
English designation
Relief Plaque
Category
Palace Architecture & Ornamentation
Provenance
British Admiralty
British Colonial Military Campaign on Benin, February 1897
British Foreign Office
Carlebach, Julius
Julius Carlebach Gallery
Moor, Ralph Denham Rayment
Location
100 W 14th Ave Pkwy, Denver, CO 80204, United States
Related oral histories
Related archival material
Institution data
Internal Data (eng)
Denver Art Museum
The data was transferred directly by the institution.
Last Updated: 2021-09-14
Language: english
Digital Benin linked fieldInstitution fieldValue
object idObject ID1955.317
descriptionDescription
materialMediumbronze
dimensionsDimensionH: 20 1/4 in, W: 14 1/8 in
object typeObject Name (Lexicon)plaque
date madeDate1550-1650
production placeAllMakerBenin
production placeCountryNigeria
provenanceProvenance ResearchFrom the catalogue card: "One of the bronze relief plaques which decorated the wooden columns of the courtyards of the Royal Palace in Benin. The nail holes in the plaque are pulled through towards the back as they should have been when the Beninites ripped it off its column in 1691 during the Civil War in that city. This plaque along with many others was in the underground storerooms when the Dutch explorer Van Nyendall visited Benin in 1702. It was found by British Marines in 1847 when Benin was conquered, looted, and razed by the British. It was included in the British Admiralty sale of 1898 or 99 and went into a private collection from whence it was obtained by Carlebach."
provenanceProvenance StatementTaken by (Sir Ralph Moor) from the Kingdom of Benin in 1897; sent to the British Foreign Service office collection in 1897 [Reed/Sir Ralph Moor No. 60]. Purchased from (Carlebach Gallery, New York) in 1955; Collection of Denver Art Museum.
notesNotesCole A+, Pictured on display at the British museum at the below link: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1406619&partId=1&searchText=Benin+bronze+photographic+print&page=1, Pertinent information summarized from the object file: In 1897 the British Museum requested that some of the objects being reported in the press as having been found in Benin during the Punitive Expeditionbe sent home for study. The Foreign office agreed and Sir Ralph Moor duly sent back a shipment of plaques some time in March or April. In a later list, Read (Charles Hercules Read (later Sir) was the keeper of the department of British and Medieval Antiquities) noted 305 plaques that he was able to select from, although there appears to be others at the foreign office as Read mentions plaques in officials offices...[t]he 305 plaques were displayed for 3 months at the museum from September 1897 and a report appeared in The Times. The British Museum were able to keep around 200 of the original plaques...[t]he remainder of the plaques all bore the large white numbers such as is on yours, as did the museum's collection. They are Foreign Office numbers, we call them Read's numbers, Bon Lushan called them Sir Ralph Moor numbers. Read gained permission to handle the sale of the remainder and duly offered various plaques to museums around England and Europe, the results were listed on a document called "Fate of the Benin Bronzes" which uses Foreign office numbers."