The Kingdom of Benin

In February 1897 British troops, including African auxiliary soldiers and local carriers, attacked Benin City in Nigeria with an overwhelming force. They did so both in retaliation for a deadly attack on a group of unarmed British officials and traders the previous month but also to extend British economic control of the region. 

_{Photograph: Reginald Kerr Granville, 1897 [PRM2019.32.2.53]}

In the Ọba’s compound, the British troops found large quantities of plaques and statues made from bronze and brass, which they seized. Some of these amazing artworks were hundreds of years old, the work of generations of expert metal workers. 

_{Photograph: Reginald Kerr Granville, 1897 [PRM1998.208.15.11]}

Also seized were many intricately carved elephant tusks, such as the ones in this display. These prestigious objects told stories about the history of the Benin kingdom and its religion.  They were now considered valuable assets by the British Foreign Office who were keen to sell them and defray some of the costs of the campaign.

_{Photograph: Reginald Kerr Granville, 1897 [PRM1998.335.5]}

The seized artworks of the royal court were gathered and guarded, apparently to deter looting by soldiers. However, many of the objects were then allocated to officers and other servicemen as booty. Most of the objects in this display were acquired in this way by officers who either sold them to museums or later donated or loaned them. 

_{Photograph: Reginald Kerr Granville, 1897 [PRM2019.32.2.46]}

The Pitt Rivers Museum recognises the looted status of the material in this display and is committed to ongoing dialogues with the Nigerian Government as well as the Royal Court of Benin, relevant communities, and activists to discuss the future of these objects and their interpretation. 

As part of this, the Museum has been involved in the Benin Dialogue Group, an international meeting established in 2007 with Nigerian and European partners that has led the way in looking for an equitable future for these objects.

On 20 June 2022 the Council of the University of Oxford considered and in principle supported a claim by the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments for the return of 97 objects that were taken from Benin City by British armed forces in 1897. The University has recommended the legal transfer of ownership of the objects to Nigeria. 

As of Summer 2026, this process is still pending.

_{Image © MARKK 2023}

Still Standing is a specially-commissioned mixed-media artwork by Nigerian-born artist Victor Ehikhamenor, acquired by the Pitt Rivers Museum in 2022 with generous support from Art Fund.

The work forms part of 50 Monuments in 50 Voices, a partnership between St Paul’s Cathedral and the Department of History of Art at the University of York, which worked with contemporary artists, poets, musicians, theologians, performers and academics to showcase their individual responses to 50 historic monuments across the Cathedral.

Based in Lagos, Nigeria, and Maryland, USA, Ehikhamenor is renowned for his broad practice comprising painting, sculpture, photography, and unique works on paper. His richly-patterned works use symbolism from both traditional Edo religion and Catholicism, reflecting on the confluence of African and Western cultures. Still Standing combines rosary beads and Benin bronze hip ornament masks to depict an

Ọba of Benin.

Still Standing was commissioned and curated by the PRM's Curator of World Archaeology Dan Hicks and Simon Carter, Head of Collections at St Paul’s Cathedral. The installation responded to a 1913 brass memorial panel in St Paul's dedicated to Admiral Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson (1843-1910) who had a long career in the Royal Navy, which culminated in his commanding the Benin Expedition of 1897.

Artist Victor Ehikhamenor has said about the work:

History never sleeps nor slumbers. For me to be responding to the memorial brass of Admiral Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson who led British troops in the sacking of the Benin Kingdom 125 years ago is a testament to this. The installation Still Standing was inspired by the resolute Oba Ovonramwen who was the reigning king of Benin Kingdom at the time of the expedition, but the artwork also memorializes the citizens and unknown gallant Benin soldiers who lost their lives in 1897 as well as the vibrant continuity of the kingdom till this day. I hope that we, the descendants of innumerable uncomfortable thorny pasts, will begin to have meaningful and balanced conversations through projects such as 50 Monuments in 50 Voices.

Curator Dan Hicks said, “this specially-commissioned work opens up a unique space for remembrance and reflection. Still Standing reminds us of the ongoing nature of the rich artistic traditions of Benin, of the enduring legacies and losses of colonial war, and of the ability of art to help us reconcile the past and the present.”

At the east end of the museum, either side of the Haida Star House Pole, are two 8-metre-high paintings by Benin artist Isaac Erhabor Emokpae. They were made in response to a carved ivory altar tusk looted from Benin City in 1897. The tusk, which can be seen in the Kingdom of Benin display, was burnt in the conflagration that engulfed the Oba’s Palace during the British attack on Benin City.

Emokpae explains:

 When I saw that tusk, I was transported right back to the day when the fire was burning. It was singed and burnt, a forensic remnant of that violent campaign. But, like Benin culture, it survived, and the story still continues.

Duality is important in Benin philosophy. One scroll evokes the dark night of colonial violence. The other scroll is about hope and rebirth. Whatever was buried under colonialism didn’t stay buried: it kept growing. Now everyone knows about Benin culture.

Night and day: Emokpae’s diptych evokes the darkness of colonial violence, but also the survival of the Benin people and hope of a brighter future.

In the style of the Benin carvers’ guild, Emokpae depicts a mixture of traditional and modern figures, reminding us life goes on. The descendants of the ancestors shown on the original tusk are now lawyers, doctors and media professionals.

Emokpae initially created the diptych live during a public event at the Pitt Rivers Museum in May 2024 entitled The Gathering Place which brought African and British artists of African descent together to perform in response to the collections and how they might be reimagined.

The event was also the showcase for the Taruwa project, which brought five Nigerian artists/performers to engage with collections in the museum, which spoke to their identity and heritage.

Looting of the Ọ́bá’s Palace in 1897, by Phil Omodamwen

This newly commissioned ámà (plaque) tells the story of the British looting of Benin City in 1897. The left side shows an ancestral altar in the Ọ́bá’s (King’s) palace before the British attack; while the right depicts the looting taking place. The ámà was made by contemporary artist and bronze caster Phil Omodamwen using a technique called ‘lost wax casting’, which has been practised by members of the Ìgún Ẹ́rọ̀nmwọ̀n (hereditary guild of metal casters) in Benin City for centuries. Objects in the adjacent ‘Kingdom of Benin’ display were made using this technique and—following their looting—have come to be known as the ‘Benin Bronzes’.

The British attack on Benin City was responsible for the loss of many local lives and widespread destruction across Benin City. This colonial violence and looting also had long-term effects; including disrupting and suppressing cultural and artistic practices. Omodamwen’s commission is a testament to the resilience of the bronze casters and the continuation of this skill and artform in the face of colonialism.

How should we respond to the Museum’s colonial legacy? We acknowledge the violence which brought objects like the ‘Benin Bronzes’ into the museum and must work to return looted objects. We also recognise the ongoing harm that can be caused when looted objects are not returned. As Omodamwen made clear during his residency at the museum; the longer the ‘Benin Bronzes’ are kept in museums in the Global North, the harder it is to inspire the next generation of bronze casters in Nigeria. Our hope is that as looted objects return home, newly commissioned works by artists like Omodamwen will help us tell new stories of restitution and reconciliation.

An ámà within an ámà (A plaque within a plaque)

Details within the ámà (plaque) reference looted objects in the adjacent ‘Kingdom of Benin’ display. These historic bronzes are a much deeper brown than the bright gold of the freshly cast ámà. The new ámà will gradually deepen in colour as it ages into its new life in the museum. As Omodamwen says, ‘The new will become old’.

Learn more about lost wax casting and the people involved in making the ámà (plaque) in Phil Omodamwen’s workshop in Benin City, Nigeria in this video 'Making Looting of the Ọ́bá’s Palace in 1897'. Filmed at Phil's workshop in Nigeria, edited by Tim Hand Productions.