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: rachel hand

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Context (Related Documents)
Catalogue card reads, in black ink: "25.66 | W. Africa / Benin / Human head in bronze. Marked negro features, tatooed [sic 'tattooed'] with hatching above and circles below the eyes. Branch-like figures perhaps coral - near eyes. 3 tribal marks over each eye. Pupils inlaid with iron. Reticulated head-dress & rosettes of coral or agate. Peculiar figures on each side of head-dress perhaps representing feathers. Coral choker, badge of rank. Bands of coral or agate hang down from head-dress at sides and back. On projecting base are represented 2 leopards?, oxhead & ct, arms & hands [&] Neolithic celt in front & below.
cf. Pitt-Rivers "Antique Works of Art from Benin" P32 PLXVI / D.D. Dr L. Cobbett."
Red, circular stickers on top right and bottom right of card.
Event Date 1925
Author: Katrina Dring

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Context (Other owners)
Donated by Dr Louis Cobbet (1863-1947), Cambridge University Lecturer in Bacteriology from 1907 to 1929. There is no documentation on Cobbet’s acquisition but it is typical of the ‘bronzes’ looted as part of the Benin Expedition, 1897. This has therefore been added to the source field with queries to indicate the lack of available data for a definite provenance.
Event Date 1925
Author: Katrina Dring

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Description (Physical description)
Catalogue card notes: "Human head in bronze. Marked negro features, tatooed [sic 'tattooed'] with hatching above and circles below the eyes. Branch-like figures perhaps coral - near eyes. 3 tribal marks over each eye. Pupils inlaid with iron. Reticulated head-dress & rosettes of coral or agate. Peculiar figures on each side of head-dress perhaps representing feathers. Coral choker, badge of rank. Bands of coral or agate hang down from head-dress at sides and back. On projecting base are represented 2 leopards?, oxhead & ct, arms & hands [&] Neolithic celt in front & below."
Event Date 8/6/2000
Author: maa

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Context (References)
Catalogue card notes: c.f. Pitt Rivers, (1900). Antique Works of Art from Benin, Pl.LXXI, p. 32


Event Date 8/6/2000
Author: maa

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Conservation (Surface Clean)
CON.2016.3610 | 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.
Event Date 27/1/2017
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

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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: 75.69%; Zn: 23.22%; Sn: 0.06%; Pb: 0.64%. 2) Cu: 77.44%; Zn: 21.33%; Sn: 0.05%; Pb: 0.81%.

It was noted as Dark 5, Willett 6 but ZnSn slightly low and may be Willett 5. It is post 1700 according to chemistry and 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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Conservation (Assessment Only)
CON.2022.5503 | 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.
This replaces the previous phrase '?Benin Expedition' and the queries have been removed.
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)
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

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Description (Physical description)
Uhunmwun Elao. Lost-wax cast commemorative head of an Oba with central hole to support a tusk. In the Udo-style according to Fagg (1963).
Event Date 17/6/2026
Author: Rachel Hand

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Context (References)
Fagg, W. B. (1963). Nigerian Images. London: Lund Humphries Publishers; Connecticut: Praeger.
Event Date 17/6/2026
Author: Rachel Hand