LG 1954. 15. 5

Purchases by the Nigerian Government at the Sale by Messrs. Sotheby & Co. Bond Street, London on April 26th 1954, M. B. E. B. Fagg, assistant surveyor of antiquities, acted for the Nigerian Government at the Sale in negotiations. The property of Mrs. Dorothy Hemingway. (From the collection of Dr. R. Allman, Principal Medical Officer of Southern Nigeria during the Benin Punitive Expedition of 1897. Bronze “receptacle” from Benin for obligations. No.106 in the sale catalogue where it is described as follows: A fine Benin Bronze Tusk Holder of a cylindrical shape, the top with a circular aperture and cast in high relief around the side with four standing females wearing coral chokers as emblems of ranks and holding in one hand a bird-headed implement used as a musical instrument, divided by panels of strap work, the flange at the base with typical guilloche decorations, 7.5’’ cast i one piece. This was bought after the sale by negotiation with the buyer at the sale, Mr. A Vecht of Rokin 30, Amsterdam, Holland, Who paid £190. Price including commission £200.

Benin Bronze Ritual Pot.