Verzamelgeschiedenis (toelichting)provenance '[...] on 30 November 1901, the Museum Volkenkunde finalised the purchase of four plaques (RV-1335-1 to -4) for which Von Luschan acted as an intermediary. The museum register names the purchase without a list of objects as they are ‘not yet described … Benin.’ (NL-LdnRMV_A03_048_0056).
As with all Benin purchases in those early years of the twentieth century, the director of the Museum Volkenkunde, Schmeltz, was struggling with securing funds, a problem he addresses in his correspondence between 17 September until 16 November 1901. The latter date confirmed the purchase – ‘Bought through intervention of Prof. F. von Luschan in Berlin. 4 bronze objects from Benin.’ (NL-LdnRMV-A1-36-263/264, NL-LdnRMV-A1-36-265/266, NL-LdnRMV-A1-36-267, NL-LdnRMV-A1-36-268, NL-LdnRMV-A1-36-269, NL-LdnRMV-A1-36-270/271, NL-LdnRMV-A1-36-272/273, DB-L 1901: NL-LdnRMV-A3-8-19).
The four plaques most likely originate from the large collection Von Luschan bought in 1898 from the German trading company Bey & Co. (Von Luschan 1919: 8, Völger 2007: 219). However, Von Luschan complains to Schmeltz in a letter dated 13 November 1898 that the collection he is about to receive from Bey & Co., of which he says ‘the price is exorbitant’, lacks in diversity when compared to the extant Benin collection (Von Luschan, Schmeltz & Schmeltz 1898). He concludes that ‘From the ones that remain with us I will gladly give you the choice of the duplicates.’ In this period, duplicates referred to objects considered generally the ‘the same’, though not in today's terms identical. In this instance the plaques were treated as duplicates even though they are all unique. Duplicates as a concept was used by several museums to deaccession items in their collections (Nichols 2016: 130-131). In a later publication Von Luschan proudly states ‘In addition, from the two large collections received in Lagos, we were able to give over a hundred more pieces that were duplicates or dispensable to us to other museums.’ (Von Luschan 1919: 9).
Interestingly, Schmeltz did not seize the opportunity to buy directly from Bey & Co, when its director Heinrich Bey writes on 7 October 1898 that they had received valuable objects from Benin City, ‘the last things, which were available in Benin, could be purchased and sent by our business partner with special permission from the English government.’ Correspondence continues and Bey asks whether Schmeltz has any interest in buying the entire collection that they are displaying in Berlin. One letter contains a list of the 317 pieces on offer in Berlin (NL-LdnRMV-A1-27-39). On 21 November, Bey informs Schmeltz that the collection has been sold but that they have received a few other pieces that they are selling but the museum did not purchase these.'
(Excerpt from Provenance no. 2 'The Benin Collections at the National Museum of World Cultures' written by Rosalie Hans with Annette Schmidt, 15-01-2021)
Publicaties over het objectbibliography zie catalogus Afrikaanse kunst in Ned no 15
Marquart, J., 'Die Benin-Sammlung des Reichsmuseums für Völkerkunde in Leiden'. Veroffentlichungen des Reichsmuseums für Völkerkunde in Leiden. Serie II nr. 7. Leiden: Brill, 1913.
For more information about the provenance, see <a href="https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/2021_provenance_2__benin__e-book" target="_blank"> Provenance #2 – the Benin collections at the National Museum of World Cultures </a> (NB: Issuu uses cookies).