Benin Plaques
- Gallery: Room 25
- Made in: Benin City
- Date: 16thC-17thC
- Object type: plaque
- Materials: brass
- Museum number: Af1898,0115.44
- 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 brass relief plaque from Benin City, created during the 16th to 17th centuries. This impressive object shows rich details, with a background of intricate patterns of river leaf designs and stippling.
The central figure is the Oba, believed to be Esigie, mounted on a horse facing right, holding the wrists of two royal attendants. He is dressed in elaborate beadwork, with a crown, armlets, anklets, and a decorated skirt. Beside him stand two pages in beaded clothing, one carrying a staff with a "bird of prophecy" at the top, and the other wearing a baldric with a sheathed sword.
These plaques once adorned the royal palace and are made using the lost-wax casting technique. They capture scenes of court life and powerful rulers, often linked to historical events—like victories in war.
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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