Benin Bronzes
The Benin Bronzes are a group of several thousand metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now Edo State, Nigeria. The metal plaques were produced by the Guild of Benin Bronze Casters, now located in Igun Street, also known as Igun-Eronmwon Quarters. Collectively, the objects form the best examples of Benin art and were created from the fourteenth century by artists of the Edo people. The plaques, which in the Edo language are called Ama, depict scenes or represent themes in the history of the kingdom. Apart from the plaques, other sculptures in brass or bronze include portrait heads, jewellery, and smaller pieces.
File:Benin, portoghese, XVI-XVII sec.JPG|thumb|A 16th-century Benin Bronze depicting a Portuguese soldier, with manillas in the background
Some of the dramatic sculptures date to the fourteenth century, but the bulk of the collection dates to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It is believed that two "Golden Ages" in Benin metal workmanship occurred during the reigns of Esigie and of Eresoyen, when their workmanship achieved its highest quality.
Most of the plaques and other objects were taken by British forces during the Benin Expedition of 1897 as the British Empire's control was being consolidated in Southern Nigeria. This expedition was positioned by British sources as retaliation for a massacre of an unarmed party of British envoys and a large number of their African bearers in January 1897. Some contemporary scholars, such as Dan Hicks, argue that the expedition was part of a broader series of premeditated attacks, framed as retaliatory or punitive, to further European imperialistic and economic interests in Africa. Following the expedition, two hundred pieces were taken to the British Museum in London, while the rest were taken to other European museums. A large number are held by the British Museum, with other notable collections in Germany and the United States.
Late 19th-century scholars O. M. Dalton and Charles Hercules Read erroneously concluded that Benin knowledge of metallurgy came from the Portuguese traders, who were in contact with Benin in the early modern period. The Kingdom of Benin was a hub of African civilization long before Portuguese traders visited, and bronzes were made in Benin prior to the arrival of the Portuguese. The Benin bronze sculpture tradition is thought to have derived from or been influenced by that of the older nearby Kingdom of Ife in southwest Nigeria.
While the collection is known as the Benin Bronzes, like most West African "bronzes" the pieces are mostly made of brass of variable composition. There are also pieces made of mixtures of bronze and brass, of wood, of ceramic, and of ivory, among other materials. The metal pieces were made using lost-wax casting and are considered among the best African sculptures made using this technique. Benin began to trade ivory, pepper, and slaves with the Portuguese in the late 15th century and incorporated the use of manillas as a metal source in their sculpture. The manillas' brass, previously suggested to come from The Netherlands, is now thought to come from the Rhineland region of Germany.
Pre-1897 significance
The time before 1897, in the period of the kingdom of Benin, was identified as the relative independence and power, also known as the Edo Empire. The pre-1897 significance of the Benin Kingdom, governed by the obas, also included control over trade and territory and nurturing the production of bronze and ivory art. The kingdom also encountered challenges from the British because they were trying to gain access to Benin resources.History
Social context and creation
Many of the dramatic sculptures date to the thirteenth century, and a large part of the collection dates to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It is believed that two "Golden Ages" in Benin metal workmanship occurred during the reigns of Esigie and of Eresoyen, when their workmanship achieved its highest quality.The Kingdom of Benin, which occupied southern parts of present-day Nigeria between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries, was rich in sculptures of diverse materials, such as iron, bronze, wood, ivory and terra cotta. The Oba's palace in Benin City, the site of production for the royal ancestral altars, also was the site for an elaborate court ceremonial life in which the Oba of Benin, his warriors, chiefs and titleholders, priests, members of the palace societies and their constituent guilds, foreign merchants and mercenaries, and numerous retainers and attendants all took part. The palace, a vast sprawling agglomeration of buildings and courtyards, was the setting for hundreds of rectangular brass plaques whose relief images portray the persons and events that animated the court.
Bronze and ivory objects had a variety of functions in the ritual and courtly life of the Kingdom of Benin. They were used principally to decorate the royal palace, which contained many bronze works. They were hung on the pillars of the palace by nails punched through them. As a courtly art, their principal objective was to glorify the Oba, the divine king, and the history of his imperial power or to honour the Iyoba of Benin. Art in the Kingdom of Benin took many forms, of which bronze and brass reliefs and the heads of kings and queen mothers are the best known. Bronze receptacles, bells, ornaments, jewellery, and ritual objects also possessed aesthetic qualities and originality, demonstrating the skills of their makers, although they are often eclipsed by figurative works in bronze and ivory carvings.
In tropical Africa the technique of lost-wax casting was developed early, as the works from Benin show. When a king died, his successor would order that a bronze head be made of his predecessor. Approximately 170 of these sculptures exist, and the oldest date from the twelfth century. The Oba, or king, monopolized the materials that were most difficult to obtain, such as gold, elephant tusks, and bronze. These kings made possible the creation of the splendid Benin bronzes; thus, the royal courts contributed substantially to the development of sub-Saharan art. In 1939, heads very similar to those of the Kingdom of Benin were discovered in Ife, the holy city of the Yoruba, which dated to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This discovery supported an earlier tradition holding that it was artists from Ife who had taught Benin the techniques of bronze metalworking. Recognition of the antiquity of the technology in Benin advanced when these sculptures were dated definitively to that era.
European interest and the Benin Expedition of 1897
Few examples of African art had been collected by Europeans prior to the nineteenth century, though European printed books already included images of Benin City and of the oba's palace from the early 1600s onward. Only at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when colonization and missionary activity began, did larger numbers of African works begin to be taken to Europe, where they were described as simple curiosities of "pagan" cults. This attitude changed after the Benin Expedition of 1897.In 1897, the vice consul general James Robert Phillips, of the Niger Coast Protectorate, together with six other British officials, two businessmen, translators, and 215 porters, set off toward Benin from the small port of Sapele, Nigeria, The true intention of the visit is disputed. The delegation's stated aim was to negotiate with the Oba of Benin, while some historians contend that it was a reconnaissance mission disguised as a peaceful diplomatic delegation with the goal of ultimately overthrowing the king of Benin. Although they had given word of their intended visit, they were later informed that their journey must be delayed, because no foreigner could enter the city while rituals were being conducted; however, the travellers ignored the warning and continued on their expedition. They were ambushed at the south of the city by Oba warriors, and only two Europeans survived the ensuing massacre.
News of the incident reached London eight days later and a naval punitive expedition was organized immediately, which was to be directed by Admiral Harry Rawson. British forces sacked and destroyed Benin City. Following the attack, the victors took the works of art decorating the Royal Palace and the residences of the nobility, which had been accumulated over many centuries. According to the official account of this event written by the British, the attack was warranted because the local people had ambushed a peaceful mission, and because the expedition liberated the population from a reign of terror. A 2020 book suggests that; "since the 1960s, historians have increasingly understood the expedition to depose Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi who had acceded to the throne in 1888, not as a retaliation, but to have been dictated by policy for a long time." Some consider that this creates an ambiguity surrounding the objects' ownership which has bearing on the possible modern return of the bronzes to Benin.
The works taken by the British were a treasure hoard of bronze and ivory sculptures, including king heads, queen mother heads, leopard figurines, bells, and a great number of images sculpted in high relief, all of which were executed with a mastery of lost-wax casting. In 1910, German researcher Leo Frobenius carried out an expedition to Africa with the aim of collecting works of African art for museums in his country. Today perhaps as few as fifty pieces remain in Nigeria although approximately 2,400 pieces are held in European and American collections.
Division among museums
The Benin Bronzes that were part of the booty of the punitive expedition of 1897 had different destinations: one portion ended up in the private collections of various British officials; the Foreign and Commonwealth Office sold a large number, which later ended up in various European museums, mainly in Germany, and in American museums. The high quality of the pieces was reflected in the high prices they fetched on the market. The Foreign Office gave a large quantity of bronze wall plaques to the British Museum; these plaques illustrated the history of the Benin Kingdom in the fifteenth and sixteenth century.The British Museum in London became home to the largest single holding approximately 900 objects while scores of other institutions in Germany, France, the Netherlands and the United States obtained significant troves.