This incident triggered the launch of a large-scale retaliatory military expedition
by the British against the Kingdom of Benin. In February 1897 Benin City was
captured by British forces. The occupation of Benin City saw widespread destruction
and pillage by British forces. Along with other monuments and palaces, the
Benin Royal Palace was burned and partly destroyed. Its shrines and associated
compounds were looted by British forces, and thousands of objects of ceremonial
and ritual value were taken to the UK as official 'spoils of war' and or distributed
among members of the expedition according to their rank. This included objects
removed from royal ancestral shrines, among which were ceremonial bronze heads
of former Obas and their associated ivory tusks.
The looted objects also included more than 900 brass plaques, dating largely to the
16–17th century, found in a storage room within the palace. Having previously
decorated the palace walls, these plaques were key historic records for the
Benin Court and kingdom, enabling illustration of historic practices and traditions.
Following the occupation, the Oba was later captured and sent into exile, while a
number of Benin chiefs were executed. Justified as legitimate military action against
a 'barbarous' kingdom, this brutal, violent colonial episode effectively marked the
end of the independent Kingdom of Benin.
In the autumn of 1897, the British Museum displayed 304 Benin plaques on loan
from the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and subsequently petitioned
successfully to receive 203 of these as a donation. The majority of the remaining
plaques were sold to UK and German museums and to private dealers, while a few
were retained by the Foreign Office. Other early collections were purchased or
donated by members of the Benin expedition.
The British Museum collection only grew to its current size following the acquisition
of major private collections, such as that of Harry Beasley in 1944, William Oldman
in 1949 and Sir Henry Wellcome in 1954. In 1950 and 1951 the Museum
de-accessioned some of the Benin plaques in the collection and these were
subsequently sold, exchanged or donated to the Colony.
