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).
Relief plaque, lost-wax cast in brass. Wide plaque, rectangular in form with side flanges. Background surface decorated with river leaf patterns and stippling. Two down-turned crescents in low relief at top and bottom, right and left; two rosettes in low relief at midway right and left. Three nail holes at top right, left and centre. Three holes at bottom right, left and centre. Depicts single standing figure, facing front. Figure has tiered hairstyle with plaited and coiled lock at left side and feather above. Wears leopard's tooth necklace, armlet on upper right arm, multiple bracelets on both arms, mu;ltiple anklets/leglets, fringed baldric across chest, beaded sash tied over left hip, and fringed wrap-around skirt.
Read & Dalton 1899: Single figure unarmed, the hair dressed like the principal figures in Af1898,0115.46. He wears a leopard's tooth collar; a fringed baldric, with bell-shaped projections, armlets and anklets. His loin-cloth has an extended end. In the field are four reversed crescents and two rosettes.