Benin Plaques
- Gallery: Room 25
- Made in: Benin City
- Date: 16thC-17thC
- Object type: plaque
- Materials: brass
- Museum number: Af1898,0115.45
- 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 "Benin Plaque," a striking brass relief made in Benin City. The figure on horseback wears a rich decoration: a tiered hairstyle, a beaded collar, and patterned skirts. He rides side-saddle, supported by two attendants. The attendants wear similar detailed patterns, with crested hair and swords at their belts.
The plaque is made using the lost wax technique, a complex craft. Brass was carefully cast, with the surface patterned with small dots and leaf designs. Brass plaques like this once adorned the palace of the Oba, or king. These works flourished around the 16th to 17th centuries.
Each side of the plaque has four nail holes, showing how it once hung in public view. In this piece, you see a moment in Benin court life, frozen in metal and memory.
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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