Benin Plaques
- Gallery: Room 25
- Made in: Benin City
- Date: 16thC-17thC
- Object type: plaque
- Materials: brass
- Museum number: Af1898,0115.178
- 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" created in Benin City. This brass plaque was cast using the lost-wax method, a highly skilled technique. It shows a horse tail ornament decorated with a collar above it. The collar is detailed with leopard's teeth and cowrie shells, while a small quadrangular bell at the top supports a small snake motif.
The surface includes a pattern of river leaves and tiny dots, adding texture to the piece. This type of artwork was originally displayed in the palace of the Oba, the king of Benin. Though often called "Benin Bronzes," these pieces were mostly made of brass. They date to the 16th and 17th centuries and reflect a powerful yet vulnerable period in Benin history.
These plaques were once looted during the British Expedition of 1897 and later donated or sold to museums. The piece before you is one such artifact that has traveled a remarkable journey from the heart of the royal palace to a museum collection today.
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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