Benin Plaques
- Gallery: Room 25
- Made in: Benin City
- Date: 16thC-17thC
- Object type: plaque
- Materials: brass
- Museum number: Af1898,0115.133
- 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 by the Edo people in the 16th to 17th centuries. Using the lost-wax casting method, the intricate design includes a warrior flanked by a court official.
Look closely at the warrior’s elaborate costume — a helmet, beaded collar, and leopard-themed armor, paired with bells and decorated belts. His stance, sword in hand, conveys authority and strength. On the left, the courtier holds an ekpokin container, symbolizing status and ritual use.
The plaque’s background features delicate river leaf patterns and stippling, a hallmark of Benin craftsmanship. Small nail holes suggest it was once mounted inside a palace, where such brass plaques adorned pillars and walls.
These plaques offer a vivid record of royal life and the kingdom’s artistic achievements. Their beauty and complexity reveal a refined culture, blending technical skill with symbolic 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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