Afmetingenlabel (H x B x D)dimensions 13,5 cm
8,7 cm (3 7/16 in.)
13,5 x 8,5 x 9,2 cm
Verzamelgeschiedenis (toelichting)provenance 'On 19 September 1913 the exchange register lists the acquisition of 191 objects from the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum in Cologne in exchange for 385 objects from Museum Volkenkunde (AR-L 1912-1913: 13). The day book states that the objects received, included ‘1 from Benin’ which the exchange register in turn describes as a ‘bronzen armband, Benin.’ The museum register gives both the current number, RV-1863-28 and the old number 380 that refers to the numbering of the ‘Doublettenkatalog’, or the duplicates catalogue (MR-L: NL-LdnRMV_A03_057_0021). The original Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum number was 5245.
It appears that Theodor Rautenstrauch (1873-1907) bought this and other objects at the ‘Benin Bronzes’ auction organised by the auctioneer John Crace Stevens (1809-1859) on 3 June 1902 in London. Rautenstrauch was the son of Adele and Eugen Rautenstrauch and a member of the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft (German Colonial Society), Department of Cologne. His parents were collectors, as was his maternal uncle Wilhelm Joest, whose combined collections formed the basis for the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum. After both parents died, Theodor and his siblings continued to build the museum initiated by their parents (Wikipedia-Autoren 2020a, Fraunhofer-Institutszentrum Schloss Birlinghoven 2020).
According to the auction catalogue, the 1902 Stevens’s sale auctioned off Benin objects that had all been looted during the British Punitive Expeditionof 1897. The collection is described as ‘taken by the British punitive expeditionunder the command of Admiral Rawson in February, 1897’ (The Times 1902). Rautenstrauch most probably bought several items, including numbers 93 and 94, the latter corresponding to RV-1863-28.'
'Willy Fröhlich’s book discussing the Benin collection at the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum mentions a virtually identical piece that is still in the R-J Museum: ‘This piece used to be owned by Webster, London and was acquired for the R-J Museum on 3 June 1902 at an auction of J.C. Stevens in London. A nearly identical piece can be found in the Webster catalogue 29, image 10, but its location is unknown.’ There is a possibility that the piece with the unknown location refers to RV-1863-28 and is linked to the R-J Museum which appeared in Webster’s catalogue. Matching images appear in both Fröhlich (1966) and Webster’s catalogue 29, figure 12 (1901: 35, see Table 2).'
(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 Bedaux, R.M.A.
1990 De geschiedenis van de Leidse Benin-verzameling. In: A. Duchâteau, Benin: vroege hofkunst uit Afrika. Brussel: 166.
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).