Lower Niger Bronzes: pendant
- Gallery: Room 25
- Culture: Owo
- Made in: Owo (?)
- Date: 1400-1700 (?)
- Object type: pendant
- Materials: copper alloy
- Museum number: Af1930,0423.1
- 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.
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About this object
Before you is a striking example of a pendant from the so-called Lower Niger Bronzes, crafted using the intricate lost-wax technique in a copper alloy. The pendant is semi-circular and features a central depiction of a horned ram's head, a symbol with possible spiritual or heraldic meaning. Around this figure runs a decorative border of herringbone patterns, with flat geometric motifs adorning the surface.
Notice the large loop at the back, designed for suspension, and the delicate chains from which twenty-seven small crotal bells hang. When worn or moved, these would have produced sound, adding a sensory dimension to the object's function.
This pendant is part of a group found in Apapa, Lagos, in 1907, and scholars suggest it may have been made in Owo—a region with strong historical ties to Benin. These works predate European contact, dating roughly between 1400 and 1700, and reflect a remarkable artistic tradition from southern Nigeria.
See it in person
Lower Niger Bronzes: pendant 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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