Description (Labels & Markings)
Written on the surface of the metal, possibly in metallic paint, is 'BENIN CITY/ FEBY 18TH 1897'
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

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Context (Field collection)
Given the label 'Benin City, Feb 18th 1897' the eben sword is presumed to have been collected during the British attack on Benin, 1897. but no documentation is known to connect it to a specific donor
Event Date 2/1897
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

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Description (Physical description)
Catalogue card notes: "Sword, with very broad (impractical) blade with shoulder and waist, decorated with extensive perforations. Repaired with riveted strips. Handle is also iron, and comprises a grip of twisted wire inside a broad loop."

Event Date 12/6/2000
Author: maa

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Context (Amendments / updates)
Pen drawing on rear of card.
Event Date 12/6/2000
Author: maa

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Context (Display)
Exhibited in the Open Storage display of Benin material in Andrews gallery, from 19 July 2016, case 4.02.
Label noted: Emblems of Office The eben (sword of authority) on the right would have been carried by the Oba (king) and other important leaders during ceremonies in Benin city. Its removal by British forces in 1897 coincided with the removal of Oba Ovoranmwen, who lived in exile for the rest of his life.
The eben on the left is ornamented with brass plates in the shape of even as well as leopards dash symbols of royal power. It was collected where number on Ron was still in exile. When he died in 1914, his son was allowed to be installed as over, under the supervision of the British colonial government. In the 1930s, Ovoranmwen’s coral regalia was returned to the Oba.
The court of Benin, Nigerian authorities, and supporters elsewhere continued to campaign for the repatriation of material taken from the palace in 1897.
Individual label noted: Eben removed from the royal palace in Benin City in 1897 (Z 20437)
Event Date 19/7/2016
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 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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Conservation (Remedial)
CON.2017.3741 | Remedial
Event Date 20/2/2017
Author: Kirstie Williams

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Context (Related Documents)
Catalogue card reads, in black ink: "Z 20437 | W. AFRICA | Nigeria / Benin / Sword, with very broad (impractical) blade with shoulder and waist, decorated with extensive perforations. Repaired with riveted strips. Handle is also iron, and comprises a grip of twisted wire inside a broad loop. / Labelled 'Benin City, Feb'y 18th 1897.' / PTO [arrow]"

Red circular sticker in bottom right corner of card.

On rear of card: ink drawing of sword.
Event Date 27/8/2020
Author: Katrina Dring

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Context (Analysis)
Analysed using XRF instrumentation by Dr Agnese Benzonelli on uncleaned surfaces.
Initial XRF analysis suggests the blade, handle and rivets repairs are 99% iron.
Event Date 13/3/2023
Author: Rachel Hand

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Context (Acquisition Details)
No known acquisition details but accessioned after 1938 and before 1978, most likely in the 1970s during re-organisation of museum stores into a typological boxing system
Event Date 30/3/2023
Author: rachel hand

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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. (https://digitalbenin.org/provenance/139; accessed 10.3.2023)

Event Date 30/3/2023
Author: Rachel Hand

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Description (Physical description)
Eben. Ceremonial iron sword owned by a person of high rank. Very broad leaf-shaped blade with shoulder and waist, decorated with extensive perforations. Repaired with riveted iron strips. Handle is also iron, and comprises a grip of twisted wire inside a broad loop.
Event Date 3/4/2023
Author: Mark Elliott

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Context (Amendments / updates)
One of 17 objects on loan to MAA from National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Nigeria for exhibition and study purposes, until January 2029.
Event Date 27/1/2026
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