John Lembcke (1873-?) originally came from Mecklenburg and was a Hamburg merchant. He worked as an agent for the trading company L. Pagenstecher & Co. in southern Nigeria. The company maintained several branches in Cameroon and Nigeria and traded raw rubber, among other things.Lembcke was probably employed at a branch of the firm in Warri, from where he went to nearby Benin City. There, he found objects which he eventually brought to Hamburg. Between 1899 and 1905, he sold 40 objects from the Kingdom of Benin to the museum.
Armmanschette
Unbekannter Ijebu-Künstler / Königreich Benin (?), Nigeria, 18./19. Jh. / Elfenbein / Ankauf von John Lembcke, 1899, Inv. Nr. C 2406
Das Lagunenkönigreich der Ijebu-Yoruba lag im Westen von Benin und stand ebenfalls in engem Handelskontakt mit portugiesischen Seefahrern. Es war ein wichtiges Zentrum für Textilproduktion und hatte eine eigene Bronzegussund Elfenbeinkunsttradition. Im Raubgut von 1897 fanden sich einige Ijebu-Armmanschetten aus Gelbguss und Elfenbein. Sie kamen wohl an den Benin-Königshof nachdem das Gebiet im 15./16. Jh. von Benin erobert wurde, wodurch ein langfristi-
ger Austausch eingeleitet wurde.
Label Text (eng)
Armcuff
Unidentified Ijebu artist / Benin Kingdom (?), Nigeria, 18th/19th century / Ivory / Acquired from John Lembcke, 1899, Inv. no. C 2406
The lagoon kingdom of the Ijebu-
Yoruba was located in the west
of Benin and also had close trade relations with Portuguese seafarers. It was an important centre for textile production and had its own bronze casting and ivory art tradition. The corpus of looted art of 1897 also included several Ijebu arm cuffs in brass and ivory. They might have reached the Benin royal court after the Ijebu kingdom
was integrated into the Benin kingdom in the 15th/16th century, which resulted in close relations for a long time thereafter.