Bequeathed by Frederick William Green (1869-1949), Honorary Keeper of Antiquities at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge from 1908 to 1949. There is no documentation on Green's acquisition but it is typical of the ‘bronzes’ looted as part of the Benin Expedition 1897. Some of the white sale numbers which still remain on objects can be connected to the sale of dealer William Webster. Webster has therefore been added to the source field with queries to indicate the lack of available data for a definite provenance.’
Catalogue card reads, in blue ink: 50.265 | Africa | Nigeria / Bronze tusk-holder 17 ins high. / Benin / F.W. Green bequest."
Red circular sticker on top right and bottom right of card.
In January 2017, Prof. Marcos Martinon-Torres and Agnese Benzonelli, UCL Institute of Archaeology, tested this idno using a portable XRF as part of a programme of base metal analysis of Benin material. This object was tested twice and the results are as follows: 1) Cu: 69.39%; Zn: 28.14%; Pb: 2.16%. 2) Cu: 69.47%; Zn: 28.51%; Pb: 1.75%. Is was noted as Dark 8, Willett 5.
It is post 1700 according to chemistry and possibly a bit earlier according to Dark.
Analysis/1
Archaeology
Auction - Sale/0
Auction - Sale/1
CMS Context/0
CMS Description
Catalogue
Display/0
Exhibited in the Benin case, Andrews Gallery, 20 March 2017- present.