Accession entry: : Long-handled ladle of carved ivory inlaid with brass. At the end of the handle is a cast brass figure of a Portuguese soldier with a musket.; Documentation: : See RDF for lists and notes.
Research Notes: The Dumas-Egerton Collection, of which this is part, was examined by Hermione Waterfield of Christie's in May 1984; see 'Part of the Nigerian Art Collected by Admiral Sir George Le Cler[c] Egerton on the Benin Expeditionof 1897 on Deposit at Maidstone Museum' (copy in RDF). The entry for this object reads: 'A Benin ladle, the long ivory handle and back of the hemispherical bowl engraved with triangular panels of banding between inlaid triangles of beaten brass, the bronze finial cast as a seated Portuguese soldier holding a musket. 30 in. long.' [JC 23 1 2002]
Examined by Hermione Waterfield on 29 January 2002. In an e-mail (not kept) of 30 January to Jeremy Coote, she pointed out how items with gilding can be dated to 'the period of the revival, i.e. 1680-1730', and that this item possibly belongs to that period. [JC 30 1 2002]
Archaological / Ethnographic
Archival documentation ID
Class
Class: Food and Drink; Class: Figure
Collection Type
Object
Related Collections
Related collection: Field diary and photocopy of relevant sections of the collector's personal diary in PRM MS collections.