Context (References)
Catalogue card notes: cf. Pitt Rivers, A.H.L (1900), Antique Works of Art from Benin, Pl. 16.

Event Date 1900
Author: maa

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Context (Display)
Register notes: exhibited at the 'Wembley Exhib: 1924'. This is the British Empire Exhibition, Wembley Park, London, 23 April 1924 to 31 October 1925.
Event Date 23/4/1924
Author: rachel hand

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Context (Auction / Sale)
Possibly purchased by Cobbet at the close of the Empire Exhibition where it may have been exhibited as part of the Nigerian Pavilion, which also included Nigerian artists as living displays and a replica altar which featured painted wood representations of the original bronze and ivory artworks
Event Date 1925
Author: Katrina Dring

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Context (Display)
Exhibited: On display in Maudsley gallery, CUMAA, from 1990- 2011, in the freestanding Benin cube case
Label text noted:
'4 Commemorative Head
Cast in bronze. Late period.
Benin
S. Nigeria
d. D. L. Cobbert
1925.65'
Event Date 1990
Author: Rachel Hand

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Description (Physical description)
Catalogue card: "Bronze cast of human head. Marked negro features, tattooed with hatching and circles above and below the eyes. Branch-like figures -perhaps coral growing out ? of the eyes. Three tribal marks over each eye. Pupils of eyes inlaid with iron. Reticulated headdress and rosettes of coral or agate. Peculiar figures on each side of the headdress- perhaps representing feathers. Coral choker -badge of rank. Bands of coral or agate hang down from the headdress at sides and back. On projecting base are represented 2 leopards, an ox's head and other animals, arrows and hands and Neolithic celt in front."
Event Date 8/6/2000
Author: maa

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Loan (Exhibition)
Exhibition Body Art exhibition, January-July 2006.

Installation week: 23rd-27th January.

Last day of exhibition: 2nd July; de-installation: 3rd July.
Event Date 23/1/2006
Author: maa

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Context (Display)
On display in the 'Origins of the Afro Comb: 6000 years of Culture, Politics and Identity' exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum 1 July -November 3 2013. The exhibition label states:
'Bronze and iron head Before 1925 From Edo State, South Nigeria Made by a Benin artist Donated by Dr L. Cobbett. In 1897 a punitive expedition by the British to Benin resulted in around 2000 bronze plaques and representations being taken from the royal palaces. These works of art were subsequently housed in European and North American museums or sold. The people of Benin have a long-standing tradition of casting bronzes. Many of these images are connected to the Oba (King) and his family. The heads are included here to show the elaborate hairstyles that members of the elite wore.'

Event Date 1/7/2013
Author: Remke van der Velden

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Conservation (Surface Clean)
CON.2016.3609 | Surface Clean
Event Date 30/11/2016
Author: Kirstie Williams

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Description (Physical description)
Benin Head
Event Date 7/12/2016
Author: maa

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Context (Analysis)
In January 2017, Prof. Marcos Martinon-Torres and Agnese Benzonelli, UCL Institute of Archaeology, tested this idno 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: 73.47%; Zn: 24.98%; Sn: 0.07%; Pb; 1.00%. 2) Cu: 74.84%; Zn: 23.21%; Sn: 0.06%; Pb: 1.03%.

It was noted as Dark 5, Willett 6 but ZnSn slightly low and may be Willett 5. Post 1700 according to chemistry but post 1800 according to Dark.
Event Date 27/1/2017
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

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Context (Display)
Exhibited in the Benin case, Andrews Gallery, 20 March 2017- present.
Event Date 20/3/2017
Author: rachel hand

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Context (Related Documents)
Catalogue card reads, in black ink: "25.65 | W. Africa / Benin. / Bronze cast of human head. Marked negro features, tatooed [sic 'tattooed'] with hatching & circles above & below the eyes. Branch-like figures - perhaps coral growing out ? of the eyes. Three tribal marks over each eye. Pupils of eyes inlaid with iron. Reticulated head-dress & rosettes of coral or agate. Peculiar figures on each side of the head-dress- perhaps representing feathers. Coral choker, badge of rank. Bands of coral or agate hang down from the head-dress at sides & back. On projecting base are represented 2 leopards, an ox's head & other animals, arrows & hands & Neolithic celt in front. / cf. Pitt-Rivers - Antique Works of Art from Benin. PL16"

Red circular stickers on top right and bottom right of card.

On reverse, in black in: "D.D. Dr L. Cobbett."
Event Date 19/8/2020
Author: Katrina Dring

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Conservation (Assessment Only)
CON.2022.5502 | Assessment Only
Event Date 5/12/2022
Author: Kirstie French

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Context (Amendments / updates)
Presumed to have been acquired in the attack on Benin City by British forces in 1897.
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 queries have been removed.
(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