Object History Note / Acquisition Notedescription, provenance, notes John Patrick Howe served as District Medical Officer in the Niger Coast Protectorate from February 1897. He was based in Bonny and later Opobo during the British Expeditionto Benin City in 1897. Howe was subsequently transferred to Benin City from July 1897 until at least January 1898. He acquired a collection of objects looted from Benin City which upon his death in 1928 passed by inheritance to his son, Captain John Scott Howe.
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. One nail hole at top right; one hole at bottom right. Depicts drummer in high relief, seated crosslegged, facing front, playing cylinder slit-drum in front and another at left side. Drummer has complex hairstyle, with rosette pendant on forehead. Wears twisted metal necklace, multiple upper arm rings and bracelets, and patterned wrap-around skirt. Cylindrical drums rest on coiled ropes. Beaters are straight sticks. In upper part of plaque are three objects in high relief: footed circular bowl with offering of mudfish or lid in form of mudfish, ? bundle of three petards (explosives), and ?dish containing an offering. Back of plaque has deep cavities for the offering dish, slit-drums, and figure's head and torso.
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: The prominent drummer on this singular plaque with beads on his wrist and neck may have been a high-ranking member of a subsection of the Ogbelaka guild known as Ikpe-iwini. He was playing on the occasion of the investiture of a chief or during palace ceremonies such as the Igue festival. In the numerous festivals held throughout the year and especially in dances at the palace, drummers featured prominently. There exist various groups of drummers, from the Ikpema and the Ogbelaka guild. The musical instruments played on this plaque are cylindrical wooden slit-drums. The other object depicted on the upper right seems to be a cannon which distuinguishes this drummer as a member of the Ogbelaka. This guild comprises subsections of warriors, drummers, diviners and healers. Under the cannon the artist placed an offering bowl with a mudfish.~Register 1961: Brass plaque representing man seated cross-legged and playing on two slit gongs. At top left are three slacked miniature cannon, top right on object shaped like an acorn, below it a skewered mud fish in a bowl. Background decorated with flower motif. SOUTHERN NIGERIA-BENIN
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
Fair; significant looses at top left side and along ope dge, entire right edge, and bottom left corner. On front: mudfish offeirng missing section in centre.