Benin Plaques
- Gallery: Room 25
- Made in: Benin City
- Date: 16thC-17thC
- Object type: plaque
- Materials: brass
- Museum number: Af1898,0115.131
- 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 plaque from Benin City, crafted through the intricate lost-wax method. This flat, rectangular panel is decorated with detailed patterns—river leaf designs and tiny dots cover the background. At the corners and sides are six small rosettes in low relief, and a number of nail holes suggest it was once attached to a wooden pillar.
The plaque's central figure stands tall, wearing a grand hairstyle with neat plaits ending in beads. In their left hand, they hold an ekpokin container, resting the right hand on top as if preparing to use it. Rich adornments include a beaded necklace, armlets, and a patterned skirt draped neatly around the body.
These plaques once decorated the palace of the Oba, the king of Benin. Made between the 16th and 17th centuries, they combine masterful craft with vivid storytelling—this one may depict a court official or musician, perhaps at the moment of performance.
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.
New, in beta. British Museum support has just launched and is still improving: over 1,000 objects so far, with more added all the time.
