Benin Bronze, Edo artist, oba head, Metropolitan Museum of art

Between Restitution and Repatriation

Benin Bronzes in Museum Collections

Oba head, Edo Artist, Benin Kingdom
Interior of Benin’s royal palace in 1897 after the raid by British looters
Edo artist, Plaque, Benin kingdom court style, 19th century, present-day Nigeria. Provenance: Benin Punitive Expedition, 1897. National Museum of African Art
Dr Robert Allman, British soldiers with objects looted from the royal palace during the military expedition to Benin City (1897).

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Images:
- Edo artist, Head of an Oba, 16th century, present-day Nigeria. Metropolitan Museum of Art (1979.206.86). Provenance: A West African mine official, acquired before 1885
- Edo artist, Commemorative head of a king Benin kingdom court style,19th century, present-day Nigeria. Provenance: Benin Punitive Expedition, 1897. National Museum of African Art (85-19-7)
- Interior of Benin’s royal palace in 1897 after the raid by British looters Creative Commons © Reginald Kerr Granville
- Edo artist, Plaque, Benin kingdom court style, 19th century, present-day Nigeria. Provenance: Benin Punitive Expedition, 1897. National Museum of African Art (82-5-3)
- Dr Robert Allman, British soldiers with objects looted from the royal palace during the military expedition to Benin City (1897). British Museum, Af,A79.13 © The Trustees of the British Museum

[1] Azoulay, Ariella Aïsha, 2019. Un-documented: Undoing Imperial Plunder.
[2] Viejo-Rose, Dacia, 2016. ‘Eternal, Impossible Returns: Variations on the Theme of Dislocations’. In Carroll, Khadija von Zinnenburg (ed), The Importance of Being Anachronistic: Contemporary Aboriginal Art and Museum Reparations. Melbourne: Discipline, p. 125.
[3] Collections Trust
[4] Hicks, Dan, 2020. The Brutish Museum: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution. London: Pluto Press, p. XIV.
[5] Ibid., p. 239-240.
[6] Thomas, Nicholas, 2016. ‘No Normal – A Foreword’. In Carroll, Khadija von Zinnenburg (ed), The Importance of Being Anachronistic: Contemporary Aboriginal Art and Museum Reparations. Melbourne: Discipline, p. 16.

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