Description (Labels & Markings)
The Webster stock number '6244' has been written on the object.
Event Date
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

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Context (Related Documents)
Replacement catalogue card reads, in blue biro (date unknown, possibly 1980s): "1900 E. 98 (1) | AFRICA | [SOUTHERN struck through] / WEST AFRICA / NIGERIA / A PLAQUE in bold relief: a man standing against a diapered (punched) background. He wears a leather kilt, a plain round helmet, waist belt, neck rings, bangles etc. A horn is slung by a strap over the right shoulder, and the left hand grasps a dumb bell-like object. size 19" x 6"5 / King's Compound. Benin City / (see Read & Dalton Works of Art from Benin City) / F.J.H. Jenkinson M.A. | R1901 495"

In second hand, black ink: "(Centenary Exhibition)"

Red circular sticker on bottom right of card.
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

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Context (Field collection)
Presumed taken from the palace of Oba Ovọnramwẹn Nọgbaisi during the British Colonial Military Campaign on Benin, February 1897, as Webster became the pre-eminent dealer in looted Benin material
Event Date 2/1897
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

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Context (Auction / Sale)
Webster, W.D. (1899). Illustrated Catalogue of Ethnological Specimens. European and Eastern Arms and Armour. Prehistoric and Other Curiosities, Vol. 3, No. 21.
Illustrated in unnumbered plate, figures 127-132. No. 21. Africa. 129. (6244). Bronze plaque with figure, 19-3/4 inches high, 6-3/4 inches broad. (Benin City) ₤15.15.0.
Event Date 1899
Author: rachel hand

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Description (Physical description)
Catalogue card notes: "A plaque in bold relief: a man standing against a diapered (punched) background. He wears a leather kilt, a plain round helmet, waist belt, neck rings, bangles etc. A horn is slung by a strap over the right shoulder, and the left hand grasps a dumb bell-like object."
Event Date 1900
Author: maa

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Context (Auction / Sale)
Purchased from William Downing Webster, a dealer in ethnography, with money donated to the Museum Accession Fund by Francis John Henry Jenkinson (1853-1923), University of Cambridge Librarian (1889-1923).

Event Date 1900
Author: Katrina Dring

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Context (Related Documents)
Accession Register reads: "B. Webster (Jenkinson) £15:15:0 See Webster Cat. No's 21. See Read and Dalton, Works of Art from Benin City, Journal of Anthropological Institute Vol. xxvii (1898) p.362"
Event Date 1900
Author: Katrina Dring

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Context (Acquisition Details)
Purchased from W. D. Webster in 1900 with money donated to the Museum's Accession Fund by Francis John Henry Jenkinson (1853-1923), University Librarian from 1889.
Register gives the provenance as 'King's Compound, Benin City, 189-'.
Event Date 1900
Author: Rachel Hand

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Context (References)
Catalogue of MAA's Centenary Exhibition Ebin, V. and Swallow, D. A. (1984). The Proper Study of Mankind: Great Anthropological Collections in Cambridge. Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, p. 251, no. 262
Event Date 1984
Author: rachel hand

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Context (Display)
Part of MAA's Centenary Exhibition, held in the Adeane gallery, at the Fitzwilliam Museum, 12 March- 6 May 1984, and the Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts, Norwich, 2 July- 16 September 1984.

Event Date 12/3/1984
Author: rachel hand

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Context (Display)
On display in the Maudslay gallery, Nigeria Case (Case no 37) from 1990- 2017.
Label noted:
'4 Benin plaque A plaque in bold relief. A soldier standing against a drapered background. He wears a kilt, a plain round helmut, waist belt, neck rings and bangles. A horn is slung by a strap over the right shoulder and the left hand grasps a dumb-bell like object. Benin Nigeria donated by F.J.H. Jenkinson E 1900.98'

Event Date 1/1/1990
Author: Katrina Dring

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Context (References)
Catalogue card reads "see Read and Dalton, Works of Art from Benin City,"


Event Date 2/6/2000
Author: maa

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Context (Amendments / updates)
Object numbered E 1900.98 but display label wrongly reads "E 1900.8".
E 1900.8 is in fact a model house from Kenya.
Event Date 7/6/2001
Author: Remke Velden

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Conservation (Remedial)
CON.2017.3694 | Remedial
Event Date 16/1/2017
Author: Kirstie Williams

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Context (Analysis)
In January 2017, Prof. Marcos Martinon-Torres and Agnese Benzonelli, UCL Institute of Archaeology, tested this item using a portable XRF as part of a programme of base metal analysis of Benin material. This object was tested twice and the results are as follows: 1) Cu: 83.93%; Zn: 11.41%; Sn: 1.87%; Pb: 1.90%. 2) Cu: 84.39%; Zn: 10.57%; Sn: 2.00%; Pb: 2.19.

It was noted that most plaques are thought to be cast 1550-1610 and that this one has relatively low Pb reading.
Event Date 26/1/2017
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

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Context (Display)
On display in the Maudslay gallery, Nigeria Case (Case no 37) from 1990- 2017 and redisplayed in 2018 with new text.
Label noted: The Kingdom of Benin was one of many West African states overthrown by the British. The story of the massacre and looting in 1897 is told in the upstairs gallery. The brass plaques here were taken by the invading British forces from the walls and doors of the royal palace, and sold by the English dealer William Webster. Most date to 1550 to 1610'.

Individual label noted: #4 Bronze plaque: soldier A soldier wearing a kilt, round helmet, waist belt, neck rings and bangles. A horn is slung over his right shoulder and he holds a dumb-bell like object in his left hand. Purchased from William Webster, who acquired a virtual monopoly over the sale of Benin loot. Edo people. Benin, Nigeria, 16th century Purchased from Webster (No 6244), with funds from F.J.H. Jenkinson. E 1900.8'.

Event Date 1/5/2018
Author: Rachel Hand

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Context (References)
Photographed as part of the Art UK Sculpture project, August - September 2019. The project aims to create a free-to-access online photographic showcase of publicly owned sculpture. The three-year project focuses on sculpture dating from the last 1,000 years, held in public collections and outdoor locations across the UK
Event Date 4/6/2020
Author: Katrina Dring

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Conservation (Assessment Only)
CON.2022.5476 | Assessment Only
Event Date 31/10/2022
Author: Kirstie French

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Context (Amendments / updates)
The phrase 'British Colonial Military Campaign on Benin' has been added to the source field based on the recommendations of Digital Benin. This explicitly links the object to the capture of Benin City by British Navy Forces and members of the Nigerian Coast Protectorate Forces on 18 February 1897. The maker and artist field has been updated with the 'Igun Eronmwon (royal guild of brass casters)'.
(https://digitalbenin.org/provenance/139; accessed 10.3.2023)

Event Date 10/3/2023
Author: Rachel Hand

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Loan (Exhibition)
Fitzwilliam Museum (UCM), 25/7/2023 to 7/1/2024, Enslavement & Resistance: Cambridge & the Black Atlantic
Event Date 25/7/2023
Author: rachel hand

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Context (Other owners)
In July 2022, the University of Cambridge agreed to repatriate 116 artefacts, including this object, taken from Benin City by the British military in February 1897. A legal transfer of ownership to the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria, took place on 27 January 2026.
The source field has been updated accordingly.
Event Date 27/1/2026
Author: Jan-Henrik Hartung

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Context (Other)
One of 99 objects on deposit from the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Nigeria (pending a physical return to Nigeria).
Event Date 27/1/2026
Author: Jan-Henrik Hartung

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Context (Display)
New free-standing yellow label added to the display case in February 2026 which noted:
‘In July 2022, the University of Cambridge agreed to repatriate 116 artefacts taken from Ben in city by the British military in February 1897. Arrangements are being made to physically return the collection. Artefacts numbered 3 to 6 are on loan from the National Commission of museums and monuments, Nigeria’.
Event Date 1/2/2026
Author: Rachel Hand