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. Wide plaque, rectangular in form with side flanges. Background surface decorated with river leaf patterns and stippling. Three nail holes at top; one hole on left side above midway; four holes at bottom. Depicts three standing figures, facing front. Central largest figure holds staff terminating in crocodile head with mudfish in mouth in right hand; left hand is clenched with extended thumb. Figure has plaits terminating in beads at either side of face. Wears brimmed helmet with circular bosses tied with strap below chin, beaded necklace and anklets. Dressed in wrap-around skirt and sash tied over left hip. Flanking figures wear tri-lobed helmets with circular bosses and side flaps, deep collars; figure on right has beaded necklace. Dressed in wrap-around skirts with sashes tied over left hips. Both figures hold two manillas in left hands; one manilla in right hands.
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 ~Plankensteiner 2007: This brass plaque is believed to represent men who in Benin possesed the privilege of trading with the Europeans. As a relatively stable source of wealth and luxury goods, this was an enviable privilege, accorded by the Oba in the first period of exchange between Portugal and Benin, yet in the course of history was repeatedly challenged by powerful oppositional forces within Benin and by traders from outside the kingdom. Both lateral figures hold manillas in their hands, the 'money rings' that in the court art of Benin became a kind of symbol of the overseas trade with Europe. The figure in the middle, however, holds a staff with a crocodile on top clasping a fish between its teeth. In the court art of Benin the crocodile was considered to be the sign of power and control over the ocean. Together with catfish and python snakes, crocodiles often manifest themselves in connection with Europeans and overseas trade. These animals are part of the imagery associated with Olokun as the god of the ocean, of wealth and fertility. Especially crocodiles were deemed to be the 'guardians of water' who punished illicit acts on the water. Representations of Africans with manillas are exceptionally rare in the court art of Benin. The men carrying these 'money rings' in their hands or depicted with them on the brass plaques and on the engraved elephant tusks, are mostly Europeans.~See plaques Af1898,0115.75 & 76 where figure carries similar crocodile-headed staff. Believed to represent men who traded with Europeans. ~Read & Dalton 1899: Three standing figures, all bare to the waist. Those on each side wear hemispherical hats with brims turned up in front and ornamented with circles, as in the European hats in Af1898,0115.20-21. They have collars of some stiff material round the neck, and hold in their right hands a pair of Manillas. The central figure has a round-rimmed hat with ornamental band and adjustable chin-strap. His girdle is more decorated than those of his companions, and he wears anklets. In his right hand is a staff terminating in a crocodile's head, in the jaws of which is seen a fish.
Exhibitions Loans and Displays - Current and Pastexhibition history Exhibited: 1970-1973, London, Museum of Mankind, Divine Kingship in Africa 2007 May-Sept, Vienna, Museum für Völkerkunde, Benin. Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria 2007-2008 Oct-Jan, Paris, Musée du quai Branly, Benin. Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria 2008 Feb-May, Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum, Benin. Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria 2008 Jun-Sept, Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Benin. Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria