Benin Plaques
- Gallery: Room 25
- Made in: Benin City
- Date: 16thC-17thC
- Object type: plaque
- Materials: brass
- Museum number: Af1898,0115.102
- 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.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is a striking brass plaque from Benin City, a masterpiece created by the Edo people around the 16th to 17th century. This narrow rectangular plaque is richly detailed with small river leaf motifs and textured stippling across its surface. At the center stands a courtier figure, holding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. He is magnificently adorned with beaded necklaces, an armlet, feathery headdress, and leopard-themed armor—evidence of status and rank. Nearby is a smaller figure known as an emada, depicted nude with beaded jewelry and a distinctive hairstyle.
Cast using the complex lost-wax method, these plaques once decorated the royal palace’s pillars. They offer a vivid glimpse into Benin court life, showcasing the kingdom’s artistic brilliance and cultural richness.
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.
New, in beta. British Museum support has just launched and is still improving: over 1,000 objects so far, with more added all the time.
