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' or distributed among members of the expedition

according to their rank. This included objects removed from royal ancestral shrines,

among which were ceremonial brass 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.