Object History Note / Acquisition Notedescription, provenance, notes Following the British occupation of Benin City (Edo) in 1897 objects made of brass, ivory and wood were looted by British forces from the royal palace, its storerooms and compounds. Some of these objects were sold or exchanged on the coast. However, many were brought to the UK where they were sold through private auction, donated to museums, or retained by soldiers of the expedition The British Museum successfully petitioned the government to secure some of the relief plaques and over 300 were sent to the UK by the Consul-General [Sir] Ralph Moor and placed at the Foreign Office. During the summer of 1897 the Crown Agents for the Colonies, on behalf of the Foreign Office, agreed a temporary loan of 304 plaques to the British Museum. In September these were placed on public display in the Assyrian basement where they attracted considerable public attention. The Museum initially received 203 of these plaques as a gift from the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. In the summer of 1898 a further eleven plaques were sent to the British Museum from the Foreign Office and three of these were selected by the Museum and were subsequently presented as a gift. Of the remaining plaques the Foreign Office retained eight and the rest were offered for sale to major museums, collectors and private dealers in Europe and the UK. Today over nine hundred plaques are known to exist in museums and private collections around the world. See Collection File: Af1898,0115.1-203 (previously Eth.Doc.185).
Physical descriptiondescription Relief plaque, lost-wax cast in brass. Narrow plaque, rectangular in form without side flanges. Background surface decorated with river leaf patterns and stippling. European (Portuguese) heads in profile in upper corners both with long hair and beards. Each wears brimmed helmet, one with three bosses and other with single feather. Part of third helmet at lower left. Depicts standing 'Emuru' figure with distinctive sectioned hairstyle and coiled braids of hair at temples. Wears the tapering 'oro' protrusion tied to the top of his head. Three vertical facial markings above each eye. Wears deep beaded collar, bracelets, anklets and long multiple-stranded necklace, all possibly made of coral beads. Dressed in knee-length loincloth with patterned central panel; hanging sashes at either side. Chain around waist. Bare torso and feet. Holds ram-headed rattle in raised right hand.
The relief brass plaques that used to decorate the Oba's (king's) palace are among the most well-known of all the royal arts of Benin. Although frequently described as 'Benin Bronzes' most plaques are made of leaded brass in various compositions. It is widely accepted that they date to the 16th-17th centuries. In the years prior to the British Expeditionroyal influence in Benin was increasingly under threat from rival powers, both internal and external, with a focus on economic power and control of the important trading monopolies. However, the court and palace remained the political and spiritual centre of the Benin Kingdom. Earlier accounts written by Europeans visiting the city describe its size and scale. The palace complex was set up around atrium courtyards; some had galleries with wooden pillars supporting the roof. Brass plaques, probably made in matching pairs, were fixed to these pillars. The Benin brass plaques represent a distinct and unique corpus of work, unparalleled elsewhere on the continent. They are cast using the cire perdue (lost wax) technique and show significant variation in the depth of the relief. Some of the plaques portray historical events or commemorate successful wars, while others are a vivid depiction of Benin court life and ritual. Several groups of plaques show clear stylistic similarities. William B. Fagg suggested that these plaques represent the work of master brass casters. Fagg, William, 1973, 'Nigerian Images', London: Lund Humphries Gunsch, Kathryn, 2018, 'Benin plaques: a 16th century imperial monument', London: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group ~Gunsch, 2018: Part of Cow Sacrifice Set. Row 1D. One of series of 9 known narrow plaques showing high-ranking title-holder holding rattle. Gunsch suggests these are later in date as high relief and these attributes predominantly seen on later wide plaques. Possible direct pair with Berlin III C 27506. ~The Emuru are members of a royal guild who serve within the palace. Title was established by Oba Ewuare in fifteenth century and their role was to care for the sacred brass vessels (iru) which Ewuare seized from the god Olokun. Oral history relates that these vessels coud speak aloud; when ceremonial petitions received spiritual approval the vessels intoned the ritualised response to a prayer 'Ise'.~Read & Dalton 1899: "Standing figure of a native Over each eye are three raised vertical cicatrices, the tribalmark of the of Benin. Down the front of the body are longer cicatrices serving a similar purpose. The hair is dressed in three divisions, each consisting of overlapping layers, with a pillar ornament at the top,and coiled into a spiral near each ear. Round the neck is a broad collar of beads, probably coral, which, with the broad anklets, armlets, and long necklace, indicate that the wearer is a person of some importance. Round the waist is a loin-cloth reaching to the knees punched with conventional heads of Europeans, imitating a textile pattern. From the waist project tubular ornaments resembling in form thegong or bell shown in Af1898,0115.68. In his left hand he holds up a spherical object, the handle of which terminates in an animal's head. The persons represented in Af1898,0115.6, and Af1898,0115.66, hold similar instruments and have similar objects at the waist; their dress also shows similar characters. In the two upper corners are heads of long-haired and bearded Europeans represented in profile and without moustaches. One wears a hat resembling those shown in Af1898,0115.7; the other a hat with a feather in the top. In the right-hand bottom corner, which has been broken off, the hat of a third European is alone visible."
Exhibitions Loans and Displays - Current and Pastexhibition history Exhibited: 1965, Oxford, Pitt Rivers Museum, Art from the Guinea Coast 1970-1973, London, Museum of Mankind, Divine Kingship in Africa
Fair; sections missing from both top corners. Large sections missing from bottom left corner, along left side and along bottom edge. Small missing section from bottom right corner, bent at bottom right side. Split at edge of right side level with figure's shoulder.