Benin Plaques
- Gallery: Room 25
- Made in: Benin City
- Date: 16thC-17thC
- Object type: plaque
- Materials: brass
- Museum number: Af1898,0115.137
- 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
This is a "Benin Plaque" cast in brass using a sophisticated lost-wax technique. You’re looking at a large flat plaque with decorative details, flanges along the sides, and a textured background showing patterns that resemble river leaves. The figures are dressed in rich adornments including beaded collars, armlets, and capes showing a vivid sense of courtly style.
Each figure has detailed braids and wears layered necklaces, suggesting high status, quite likely courtiers from the royal palace around the 16th or 17th century. They were originally part of the royal palace in Benin City. These plaques were not only artistic but also political, often depicting historical moments or figures from the court. Many were looted during the British Expedition in 1897 and later brought to the UK, where they were donated to or collected by museums like ours.
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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