Benin Plaques
- Gallery: Room 25
- Made in: Benin City
- Date: 16thC-17thC
- Object type: plaque
- Materials: brass
- Museum number: Af1898,0115.48
- 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, crafted using the lost-wax technique around the 16th or 17th century. This wide, rectangular plaque features decorative river leaf patterns and is studded with small dots of stippling. At the top and bottom are small nail holes, once used for mounting.
The scene shows a tense battle: three Edo warriors, a hornblower, and an emada figure accompany captured enemies. The warriors wear elaborate armor made from crocodile hide, leopard teeth necklaces, and shields. The central figure holds a prisoner with one hand and a sword with the other. Another fighter holds a shield and spear, while a third, distinct by his cowrie-shell-adorned helmet, holds a mysterious object.
Above them, a mounted captive is wounded and wears a leopard-skin surcoat, and a second small-scale captive kneels nearby, bound and holding arrows.
These plaques once adorned the royal palace of Benin’s king. They depict real historical events, often highlighting victories in battle, and are remarkable for their craftsmanship and storytelling.
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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