Description (Labels & Markings)
Marked in white ink: '13751', presumably a Stevens Stock Number.
Event Date
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

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Context (Field collection)
Taken during the British Colonial Military Campaign on Benin, February 1897
Event Date 1897
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

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Description (Physical description)
Catalogue card for E 1902.97-99: 'Three human masks of brass with reticulated headdress (two decorated with rosettes, one open pattern), tribal marking over the eyes and coral fronted bands. In one the pupils of the eyes are inlaid with iron.'
Event Date 1902
Author: maa

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Context (Related Documents)
Catalogue card reads, in blue biro: "1902 E 97-99 | AFRICA | WEST AFRICA / NIGERIA / Three human MASKS of brass with reticulated headdess (two decorated with rosettes, one open pattern), tribal marking over he eyes and coral frontal beads. In one the pupils of the eyes are inlaid with iron. / 7" x 4.7", 7.2" x 4.4", 8" x 4.3" / Benin, West Africa 1897 Expedition. / purchased Stevens / Professor Bevan's donation | R. 1903 256-258"

Red circular sticker in bottom right of card.
Event Date 1902
Author: Katrina Dring

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Description (Labels & Markings)
Old museum label affixed to object: '1902.97. Bronze mask. Benin, West Africa. * Professor Bevan'.
Event Date 1902
Author: Lucie Carreau

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Context (Other owners)
E 1902.93 - E 1902.115 are annotated in the Register as 'B. Stevens *Prof Bevan' indicating they were purchased at an undated 1902 auction at J.C. Stevens saleroom, 38 King Street Covent Garden, London, with money donated to the Museum’s Accessions Fund by Prof. Anthony Ashley Bevan.
Event Date 1902
Author: Lucie Carreau

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Context (Field collection)
E 1902.94 - E 1902.115 are recorded in the Accession Register as acquired as part of the 'Benin, West Africa 1897 Expedition’
Event Date 1902
Author: Rachel Hand

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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.
Event Date 27/1/2017
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

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Conservation (Remedial)
CON.2022.5450 | Remedial
Event Date 11/10/2022
Author: Katerina Theodoraki

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Context (Analysis)
Analysed using XRF instrumentation by Dr Agnese Benzonelli, University of Cambridge, as part of research by Prof. Marcos Martinon-Torres and Dr Agnese Benzonelli into Benin material at MAA
Event Date 13/3/2023
Author: maa

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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. This replaced the text 'Benin Expedition'. The maker and artist field has been updated with the 'Igun Eronmwon (royal guild of brass casters)'. The period field has been updated to the '14th-19th century'.
(https://digitalbenin.org/provenance/139; accessed 10.3.2023)

Event Date 27/3/2023
Author: Rachel Hand

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Description (Physical description)
Uhunmwu-Ẹkuẹ. Pendant mask, worn on the hip, made of brass with reticulated coral headdress, scarification marking over the eyes and coral fronted bands.
Event Date 27/3/2023
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
Loan cancelled
Event Date 25/7/2023
Author: rachel hand

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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 (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