Michael Prodger on Art

Benin’s bronze ambassadors

THERE ARE SOME 2,807 historical bronze artefacts from Benin in Nigeria now scattered around 160 of the world’s museums. They number high-relief plaques and sculptures in the round and the majority were looted in 1897 when the British Navy attacked and sacked the royal city of Benin in a punitive raid. The palace of the Oba — the king — and nobles' residences were stripped of their bronzes and ivories. Most ended up in London. In 1898, the Foreign Office sold off a large number of pieces, most of which went to museums in Germany, Austria and America, but there are still more than 1,000 Benin bronzes in British collections, mostly in the British Museum, the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, and the Horniman Museum in south London. Since gaining independence…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, June 2021

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