There are over nine hundred plaques of this type in various museums in England, Europe and America. Many of the plaques now in The British Museum were collected during the British Punitive Expedition in 1897. They are thought to have been made in matching pairs and fixed to pillars in the Oba's palace in Benin City.
The Benin Bronzes are a collection of more than 1,000 brass plaques from the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin. They were seized by a British force in the "Punitive Expedition" of 1897 and given to the British Foreign Office. Around 200 of these were then passed on to the British Museum in London, while the remainder were divided between a variety of collections. The seizure of the Bronzes led to a greater appreciation in Europe for African culture. Bronzes are now believed to have been cast in Benin since the thirteenth century, and some in the collection date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Previously, all pre-European art from the continent, outside North Africa, was thought to be tribal art, using less complex techniques.
The seizure of the Bronzes led to a greater appreciation in Europe for African culture. Bronzes are now believed to have been cast in Benin since the thirteenth century, and some in the collection date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Previously, all pre-European art from the continent, outside North Africa, was thought to be tribal art, using less complex techniques.
The Punitive Expedition of 1897 was a military excursion by a British force of 1,200 under Admiral Sir Harry Rawson that captured, burned, and looted the city of Benin, bringing to an end the highly sophisticated West African Kingdom of Benin. During the conquering and burning of the city, most of the country's treasured art, including the Benin Bronzes, was either destroyed, looted or dispersed. Background In 1896 a small armed force led by a British officer, Lt James Phillips, British Acting Consul in the Niger-Delta, was sent to Benin under the authority of Ralph Moore, governor of Britain's West African Niger Coast Protectorate, to demand an end to the customs duties collected from British traders by Oba Ovonramwen, ruler of the then independent Kingdom of Benin. Oba Ovonramwen advised the British that the meeting would have to be postponed due to the annual yam planting and fertility festival taking place in the capital, but Phillips did not want to wait for an official invitation and decided to go anyway. Phillips entered the Kingdom of Benin without official escorts and was thus not met by representatives from the royal court as he advanced towards Benin, the capital. Just before entering the capital, the British delegation was ambushed by a group of warriors. Only two persons in Phillips' party survived. Shortly thereafter, a British force consisting of 1,200 men was formed to revenge the ambush. ... War Booty After the destruction of Benin, the British Admiralty confiscated and auctioned off the war booty of art to defray the costs of the Expedition. The expected revenue from the looted art was discussed already before Phillips set out on his ill-fated journey to the city of Benin in 1896.
Background
In 1896 a small armed force led by a British officer, Lt James Phillips, British Acting Consul in the Niger-Delta, was sent to Benin under the authority of Ralph Moore, governor of Britain's West African Niger Coast Protectorate, to demand an end to the customs duties collected from British traders by Oba Ovonramwen, ruler of the then independent Kingdom of Benin. Oba Ovonramwen advised the British that the meeting would have to be postponed due to the annual yam planting and fertility festival taking place in the capital, but Phillips did not want to wait for an official invitation and decided to go anyway. Phillips entered the Kingdom of Benin without official escorts and was thus not met by representatives from the royal court as he advanced towards Benin, the capital. Just before entering the capital, the British delegation was ambushed by a group of warriors. Only two persons in Phillips' party survived. Shortly thereafter, a British force consisting of 1,200 men was formed to revenge the ambush.
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War Booty
After the destruction of Benin, the British Admiralty confiscated and auctioned off the war booty of art to defray the costs of the Expedition. The expected revenue from the looted art was discussed already before Phillips set out on his ill-fated journey to the city of Benin in 1896.
I have to say, after years of hearing how wonderful the British Museum is, I finally visited last year... and I just found it disturbing. It was like wandering around in the mansion of some big-game hunter, filled with "trophies," stuffed lions and tigers and bears, oh my.
Partly, my discomfort was probably because most of my previous museum-going was when I was younger, before I'd lived in Africa and the Arab world, so now I know considerably more about the civilizations these artifacts came from and the British colonial history in them, and about how the artifacts were obtained.
But partly it was seeing, for the first time, artifacts from my own country displayed in a foreign museum, especially one in a country that colonized mine. I know, it sounds weird, and I felt weird thinking that way, and I'm aware that my own government was far more brutal ane exploitative toward the indigenous population of the Americas than the British were. So I don't know why, but seeing Native American items in the British Museum is very differet than seeing them here. It was just... jarring.
What realy shocks me is how matter-of-fact they are about looting. Yes, "honest", but still...
The African exhibition has some nicer artifacts, such as the Tree of Guns and the Throne of Weapons:
The throne was made by the Mozambican artist Cristovao Canhavato (Kester) from decommissioned weapons collected since the end of the civil war in 1992. Since the overthrow of Portuguese colonial rule in 1975, Mozambique offered both inspiration and a safe haven for activists opposing apartheid in South Africa and white minority Rhodesia. The civil war in Mozambique was fuelled by those regimes in their ultimately unsuccessful efforts to destabilize the country. The throne is a product of the TAE project - Transformaçaõ de Armas em Enxadas (Transforming Arms into Tools) - whereby weapons previously used by combatants on both sides are voluntarily exchanged for agricultural, domestic and construction tools. The project was established in 1995 in Maputo by Bishop Dinis Sengulane of the Christian Council of Mozambique with the support of Christian Aid.
The throne is a product of the TAE project - Transformaçaõ de Armas em Enxadas (Transforming Arms into Tools) - whereby weapons previously used by combatants on both sides are voluntarily exchanged for agricultural, domestic and construction tools. The project was established in 1995 in Maputo by Bishop Dinis Sengulane of the Christian Council of Mozambique with the support of Christian Aid.
At any rate, that's not really an artifact, it's a commissioned work of art, and the people who made it were compensated as any artist would be. I don't have such a problem with that.
But yes, the bitter irony of a Tree of Guns, with everything it symbolizes, being displayed alongside historical artifacts obtained through centuries of looting a continent at gunpoint....
I've never seen it, but according to Adam Hoschild, the ultimate is the Congo museum in Belgium which innocently contains no mention of the unsavory aspects of King Leopold's little venture.
On the other, to pick a random example, why does the current Egyptian state have a right to those treasures which are the results of oppression and slavery by its predecessor states? There's a whole set of assumptions about nations, national myths, rights of succession and such things that I'm not comfortable making and haven't thought through. Should the Egyptians apologise for their colonial days first? When does the statute of limitations run out on these things?
If I had to make a judgment call, yes, I'd say the modern Egyptian state has more "right" to them than the modern British state. They are Egyptian, and a part of Egypt's cultural heritage, the bad with the good. That said, they are also clearly parts of British history, at least in the obtaining of them, although they are not generally displayed as such.
I wonder... if the Beowulf manuscript were housed in the Louvre, do you think the British government would be asking for it back?
