Description (Physical description)
Benin copper alloy armlet, decorated with 3 bands of looped straps and floral designs.
Event Date
Author: Benjamina Dadzie

---

Context ()
Delete
Event Date
Author: Rachel Hand

---

()
delete
Event Date
Author: Jan-Henrik Hartung

---

Context (References)
Catalogue card reads "Cf Antique Works of Art from Benin, Plate 23, Fig. 140 (Pitt Rivers 1900)".

Event Date 1900
Author: maa

---

Context (Acquisition Details)
1925.62-3 were donated by Herbert Beddington, that is Henry Herbert Melville Beddington (1863 - 1929).
In 1921 Beddington also gave eight Benin pieces to the British Museum, which had been collected by Sir Ralph Denham Rayment Moor (1860- 1909), who was part of the 1897 Benin Expedition.

Event Date 1925
Author: Katrina Dring

---

Context (Related Documents)
Register notes 'Brass armlet decord with 3 rows of looped shapes | Benin | Herbert Beddington'.
Event Date 1925
Author: rachel hand

---

Description (Physical description)
Catalogue card: "Brass armlet, decorated a jour, with 3 bands of looped straps in between which are 2 solid bands with conventional decoration - floral."
Event Date 1925
Author: maa

---

Context (Related Documents)
Catalogue card reads, in black in: "25.62 | Benin / West Africa / Brass armlet about 5 1/2 inches, decorated a jour - with 3 bands of looped straps in between which are 2 solid bands with conventional decoration - floral / c.f. Antique Works of Art from Benin Plate 23 fig 140. (Pitt-Rivers 1900) / DD Herbert Beddington."
Red circular sticker in bottom right corner of card.
Event Date 1925
Author: Katrina Dring

---

Description (Labels & Markings)
Attached handwritten, brown, paper label notes 'Herbert/ Beddington. D.D'
Event Date 1925
Author: Rachel Hand

---

Context (Amendments / updates)
Photograph attached to back of catalogue card [2001].43
Event Date 2001
Author: Katrina Dring

---

Context (Amendments / updates)
As Beddington is known to have donated other 1897 Benin City material to the British Museum, the terms Kingdom of Benin and Benin City have been added with queries
Event Date 18/10/2021
Author: rachel hand

---

Description (Labels & Markings)
The accession number is marked in white on the object.
Event Date 28/9/2021
Author: Benjamina Dadzie

---

Context (Amendments / updates)
Presumed to have been taken by the British military in Benin City due to the associations between Henry H.M Beddington and Sir Ralph D.R. Moor.
The phrase 'British Colonial Military Campaign on Benin' has been added to the source field and replaces 'Benin Expedition' 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 18th of February, 1897.
The queries regarding Beddington's name have been removed.
Queries have also been removed from the place field and the terms 'Kingdom of Benin' and 'Benin City'.
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

---

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

---

Context (Amendments / updates)
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: Rachel Hand

---

Description (Labels & Markings)
Old adhered museum paper label notes '25.62/ Benin'
Event Date 19/6/2026
Author: Benjamina Dadzie