BENIN BRONZE - THE KING HEAD

(Original artefact from private collection)

HISTORY: The controversies surrounding how the African cultural artefacts known as 'Benin Bronzes' ended up in European museums and in private collections will remain in his history for many decades if not centuries to come. Since the beginning of the 19th century to the present day, the bronzes has been traded, looted, faked, and repatriated many times, and yet still remain one of the most highly collectible objects of all time.

Modern sculptors do often use cast iron to mass-produce Benin Bronzes for commercial purpose, selling to tourists. But rather unfortunately, they are unable to copy the distinctive authenticity of the original ones which are purely made of bronze. You can feel the weight, see the colour and patina and hear the ringing sound that lasts for seconds, unlike the dull and clumsy sound of iron and other metals.

Many pieces were commissioned specifically for the ancestral altars of past Obas and Queen Mothers of Benin Kingdom. They were also used in other rituals to honour the ancestors and to validate the accession of a new Oba. Among the most well-known of the Benin Bronzes are the cast brass plaques which once decorated the Benin royal palace and which provide an important historical record of the Kingdom of Benin. This includes dynastic history, as well as social history, and insights into its relationships with neighbouring kingdoms, states and societies. The Benin Bronzes are preceded by earlier West African cast brass traditions, dating back into the medieval period.

BENIN BRONZE - THE LEOPARD HEAD

(Original artifact from private collection)

OFFICIAL SPOILS OF WAR: There are over 900 objects from the historic Kingdom of Benin in the British Museum's collection. Over 100 can be seen in a permanent changing display within the Museum's galleries. Objects from Benin are also lent regularly around the world. The question is how did they end up in Europe? Trade and diplomatic contacts between Benin and Portugal developed on the West African coast from the 15th century.

During the second half of the 19th century, the balance of power between West African kingdoms like Benin and the European nations they traded with shifted towards European control. In the late 19th century, industrialised European nations accompanied by new military technologies began to exert greater power across the African continent. This political and commercial movement developed into the territorial land-grab known as the 'Scramble for Africa'. The desire to further extend British power and influence in the region ultimately led to a clash with the Kingdom of Benin.

In January 1897 an allegedly peaceful but clearly provocative British trade mission was attacked on its way to Benin City, leading to the deaths of seven British delegates and 230 of the mission's African carriers. This incident triggered the launch of a large-scale retaliatory military expedition by the British against the Kingdom of Benin.