Benin Plaques
- Gallery: Room 25
- Made in: Benin City
- Date: 16thC-17thC
- Object type: plaque
- Materials: brass; iron
- Museum number: Af1898,0115.93
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
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About this object
This is a "Benin Plaque" from Benin City. The plaque is a large rectangular piece made in brass using the lost-wax technique. It features a decorated background with river leaf patterns and small round rosettes in the corners. The figure depicted is a standing warrior, wearing an elaborate cap or hairstyle and dressed with regalia including a beaded necklace, a fringed baldric, and animal hide pouches. The figure holds a barbed spear in one hand and a raised sword in the other. This type of plaque once adorned palace structures during the 16th to 17th centuries.
The plaques show the artistic mastery of Edo makers, representing themes of court life and ritual. Most likely, they were made in pairs and installed in the grand palace of the Oba, or king.
These works were brought to the UK after the British Expedition to Benin City in 1897. Some were donated to institutions like the British Museum, where this example was given by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
See it in person
Benin Plaques is on display in Room 25 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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