For centuries, heavily populated Southwestern Nigeria washome to powerful kingdoms with rich traditions of courtlyart. Foremost among these was the Kingdom of Benin.

Benin City was established between 800 and 1000 CE, according to archeologists. Extensive written and pictorialrecords by European merchants exist, documenting mutuallyprofitable trade (in ivory, gold, luxury items, slaves) relationships. These relationships ended disastrously in 1897, when the British destroyed Benin City and looted its artworks.

The Kingdom of Benin is interesting to study because:--it shows a fully developed urban culture, complete with careful city planning centered on the seat of power, the King’s palace;--it produced an amazing array of artworks, most particularly the famous ‘Benin bronzes,’ that challenged European assumptions about the ‘primitiveness’ of African material culture;--the plundered artworks give a relatively full look at an African kingdom’s artistic styles and technical achievements;--the fact that much of Benin’s art resides in the British Museum raises questions about how the West has ‘acquired’ art from non-EuroAmerican cultures, and whether art should be repatriated.

The Kingdom of Benin was home to the Edo (sometimes referred to as Bini) people. There are many connections to the much more populous Yoruba people, whose traditional territories are adjacent to the Edo’s. Thus we might think of a SW and South Central Nigerian cultural continuum, where common practices and beliefs underlie divergent political, religious, artistic, and even linguistic developments.

Actually, this is a map of Nigeria, Cameroon, and present-day Benin.

You can see that Edo-speakers are almost surrounded by Yoruba-speakers and that Yorubapeople live in the countryof Benin as well as inNigeria.

This map also indicates the ethnic and linguistic diversityof Nigeria – the reason whyEnglish, despite its colonialhistory, is the country’s official language. Yoruba is one of the three ‘recognized national languages,’ while Edo has the lesser status of a ‘recognized regional language.’ Altogether, Nigeria has 521 distinct languages.

Today, there are about 30 million Yoruba and 6 million Edo living in Nigeria. The country’s total population is about 155 million.

By 1668, the date of the Dutch engraving (right) of the city and its palace, Benin City was a thriving metropolis. The city was laid out in a rough circle with the palace at the center; it was surrounded by earthwork walls and a deep moat (remains of which are shown in the photograph, lower right). Agricultural plots ringed the city proper.

The plan of Benin City reflects the Edo valuation of hierarchy. The palace is the center of Edo civilization; courtiers and nobles lived near the palace; commoner and guild workers lived and worked near the walls and moats; areas were connected by an orderly grid of streets, many wide enough for royal and ritual processions that included battalions of musicians, horse-mounted warriors, and the king’s domesticated leopards.

The details of the palace recorded in the engraving are confirmed by contemporaneous Benin bronzes (below). The presentation box and the plaque show the steeple-like structures over the main entry and other important areas, such as shrines; it is decorated by a snake (probably the mighty python), symbolic of kingly power. They also show the surmounting ‘birds of prophecy,’ which reference an early king’s refusal to heed the bird’s warning(the king killed the bird instead and went on to win his war). Inaddition, these birds appear as bronze musical instruments played by striking the beak with a metal clapper.

The King of Benin, or Oba, said to be descended from the Creator God, is literally a god-king. It is a hereditary position, which is probably a reason why the Queen Mother, or Iyoba, occupies a powerful position in this otherwise patriarchal society.The Oba and his family are the patrons of virtually all Benin artworks .

When an Oba dies, his successor creates a shrine in his honor , centering on a commemorative bronze head. These heads are not personal portraits as much as symbolic ones, demonstrating the Oba’s calm wisdom and almost otherworldly power through smooth, idealized features and carefully rendered royal regalia.

In the heads are inserted elaborately carved elephant tusks, also symbolic of power, wealth, and perhaps masculinity. The details of the crown and necklace refer to the coral beadwork constituting an Oba’s royal garb. The photograph (second lower left) of a contemporary Oba shows the coral crown, necklace, and tunic; it also shows that his wives (on either side) can wear coral, as can theIyoba (see the Iyoba commemorative head onthe right). Iyobas also created shrines for theirpredecessors; the heads are distinguished bythe peaked headdress and the lack of theelephant tusk.

These exquisitely detailed bronze plaques decorated the walls and doorways of the royal palace in Benin. Evidently, they weren’t all displayed at once but were brought out and hung according to the needs of the occasion. Many show the Oba, usually flanked by attendants; some show warriors and battle scenes; some allude to historical events, some to myths, and some to everyday activities that may have symbolic significance.

The photo at the upper left shows plaques displayed in the British Museum. Bottom: left to right: palace guards; the Oba with attendants and two small Portuguese soldiers; a leopard hunt.Notable is what we can call hierarchical perspective, where figures’ size connotes importance, and the general (but not universal) preference for symmetrical composition and frontal stances.

Benin brass casters use the lost-wax (cire-perdu) process, in which they:--make a rough clay model of the sculpture--cover it with a wax coating into which one sculpts fine details--cover the wax with a thin clay slip, then build up layers of clay--allow to harden, then fire so the wax melts--pour the molten metal into the mold; fire to temper the brass--break the clay mold and release the sculpture--smooth away any imperfections and polish the finished piece.

Lost-wax casting has been found in various Southern Nigerian locales. The earliest site is Igbo-Ukwu (9th-10th c) and consisted of decorative objects (upper right). The naturalistic bronze heads from the YorubaKingdom of Ife date from about the 12th-13th centuries (lower right).

Near upper right: headpiece for the Odudua masqueradeLower left: altar sculpture of warrior with leopardLower middle: ceremonial stool for the ObaAll three are Benin bronzes, between the 16th and 19th centuries.

From Top Left, counter-clockwise:--an ivory salt cellar, made for export (in this case,to the Portuguese}; the ivory carvers guild also produced commemorative tusks, bracelets, and other items for royalty--a hip mask of the Queen Mother (Iyoba); that this piece is crafted from ivory marks it as a royal item--a hip mask made of bronze (these were issued to high-ranking warriors and nobles – their function was similar to military medals, signifying affiliation and accomplishments)--a pair of bronze leopards; leopards were associated with the Oba, and a pair such as this would probably have flanked the Oba’s throne or adorned a shrine/altar to a deceased Oba--an altar sculpture; this one may depict a chief of a neighboring kingdom who finally acknowledged the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Benin.

In January, 1897, the British Consul for the area decided to visit the Oba to negotiate for favorable trading terms. The Oba asked the consul to delay the visit, as it coincided with animportant ritual occasion. Naturally, the consul ignored the request and set off with eight other British officers and 200 porters. On the way to Benin City, they were ambushed and seven of the white en were killed, including the consul.

The British response to this ‘massacre’ was immediate. A ‘Punitive Expedition’ of 1200 soldiers was organized withthe goal of destroying Benin City, capturing or killing the Oba, and killing the perpetrators of the ‘massacre’ as well as local priests, whom the British believed were carrying out human sacrifice. These goals were accomplished in February,1897; the city was burned and the Oba was captured andsent into exile.

The British also looted the city, planning to auction off the spoils of war in order to pay for the Expedition. Thus, most of the ivory and bronzes were shipped to London; remaining items were divvied up among the occupying officers.