Ama is a pictorial combination of figures that has a historical explanation or is a visual representation of a historical event. Ama had a mnemonic purpose, aiding one to recall the events or persons represented in the artwork. Benin oral traditions are popularly transmitted in the form of commemorative festivals, stories, plays, songs, poems, riddles, proverbs and other forms of oral literature. Ben-Amos (1980:28) observed the existence of over nine hundred known plaques which provided a testimony to court life at the time of Ọba Esigie, considered ‘a sort of pictorial record of events in Benin history, an aid to memorizing oral traditions’.

Although the objects grouped here are singularly described as Ama in Edo, in English they are described as relief plaques or carved wooden panels.

European historical accounts and Edo oral tradition alike describe how the relief plaques decorated the walls or pillars of the Benin royal palace as a piece of monumental architecture. By 1897, when British forces captured, looted and burnt down the royal palace, the plaques were no longer on display, they had been placed in storage within the palace. Gunsch’s (2017

) most recent survey has indicated there are at least 850 plaques in collections globally. When exactly the plaques were made is source of debate – some have argued they were cast over a period of around 150 years from the mid-sixteenth to the end of the seventeenth century (Fagg, 1970

). Meanwhile, others have attributed their manufacture to a much narrower window of around fifty years from the end of fifteenth to the mid-sixteenth century (Gunsch, 2017

). Despite these differences, it is agreed that some plaques were commissioned by Ọba Esigie (who reigned c. 1516/17–1550s).

Relief Plaque

United States of America

Website

Online Catalogue

Brooklyn Museum

Internal Data (eng)

Wikidata Link

British Museum link

Carlebach, Julius

Dealer

Gallery

Julius Carlebach Gallery

Peralta-Ramos, Arturo

Peralta-Ramos, Paul

Rogers, Millicent Abigail

Collector

Suggestion: The word juju in itself is not harmful in as much as it refers to the belief system. It can be used in a harmful or derogatory way and is context dependent. Please assess the context of this word as a user of the platform.

 more about the background of this statement here.

juju 

Suggestion: Replace with, “a person of short stature,” “little person” or "someone with dwarfism". (See 

Read more about the background of this statement here.

dwarf

Suggestion: Replace with First Nations, First people, or particular community name. (See 

aboriginal

Suggestion: Replace with the name of the particular community and delete where it is used to reference an already identified group, e.g Igbo ~~tribe.~~

tribe

This word was redacted from the catalogue as a derogatory racialised word.

DB_redacted_word

Suggestion: Be as specific as possible in terms of country, population etc. (See 

non-western

western-art

western museum

tribal

hofzwerg

For more information on this term and its violent and inherently harmful context to indigenous communities, see 

British Colonial Military Campaign on Benin, February 1897

expedition

exotic

negro

Suggestion: Replace with the word Africa.

Black Africa

Warning: This word is used in a historic context of a title for a book, exhibition, institution name or book description etc. We recognise the potential for the material to cause physical and mental distress as well as evoke strong emotions. The material within the catalogue does not represent Digital Benin’s views. Digital Benin maintains a strong anti-colonial, anti-racist position and affirms its support for centring the humanity of historically marginalised and disenfranchised communities.

Read more about the background of this statement here

primitive

Suggestion: Replace with traditional healer, spiritual healer, or specific name that particular communities use to define this role. (See 

medicine man

Suggestion: Replace in cases where it used to describe human beings, with the term indigenous communities, first people or particular community name.

Digital Benin linked field	Institution field	Value
object id	ObjectID	69026
designation, object type	Title	Plaque
description	Description	Bronze plaque, fragment of European with long hair, beard, wears hat and coat with buttons, carries staff, chased background, floral motif.
material	Medium	Copper alloy
dimensions	Dimensions	9 7/16 × 9 7/16 in. (24 × 24 cm)
inscriptions	Inscriptions
date made	Alpha Sort 2	16th or 17th century
date made	Begin Date	1501
production place	Geography	Place made: Benin City, Royal Court of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria, Africa
prior source	Credit Line	Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos
provenance	Provenance	Prior to 1953, provenance not yet documented; before 1953, reportedly Julius Carlebach, New York; by 1953, acquired by Millicent A. Rogers; 1953, Millicent A. Rogers to Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, by descent; 1956, gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos to the Brooklyn Museum.
ethnic attribution	Alpha Sort	Edo
ethnic attribution	Maker	Edo
exhibition history	Exhibition History	Brooklyn Museum, "African Innovations," Long-term Installation, August 12, 2011 - September 28, 2014. Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, Wesleyan University, "Art of Incorporation," January 26 - March 9, 1990. Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College. "Nigerian Splendor," April 21 - May 18, 1980.
bibliography	Published References
	Object Number	56.6.69
	Sort Number	1956 6 69

Ẹyo Otọ

Catalogue

Institutions

Provenance

Map

Oral History

Itan Edo

Archival Documents

Archival Institutions

Digital research tools

About the project