Benin Bronzes
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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 produc
A Benin Bronze plaque on display in the British Museum
Ancestral shrine in Royal Palace, Benin City, 1891: the earliest-known photograph of the Oba's compound. Note 'bronze' heads at both ends of the shrine.
A 16th-century Benin Bronze depicting a Portuguese soldier, with manillas in the background (Leipzig Museum of Ethnography)
An idealised depiction of Benin City by a Dutch artist in the 1686 French edition of Olfert Dapper's Description of Africa (1668).
British Museum
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The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million artefacts is the largest in the wo
Benin Bronzes
…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…
Aerial view of the British Museum in 2015
Sir Hans Sloane
Montagu House, c. 1715
Entrance ticket to the British Museum, London 3 March 1790