By the 1890s the Kingdon of Benin (which dates back to at least the twelth century, and covered much of what is now southwest Nigeria) had become a major exporter of Palm oil to British traders on the Niger Delta, but in 1896, following a dispute over taxes, the Oba (King) of Benin cut off this supply of oil. The Acting Consul-General of the Protectorate of Nigeria, James Robert Phillips, drew up plans to invade the state and overthrow the Oba, but these were rejected by the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Salisbury. Instead, Philips dispatched an expedition to 'negotiate' with the Oba, which included 250 soldiers and a pipe band. This force was interpreted as an invasion by the Iyase (commander in chief of the army) of Benin, who dispatched a force to intercept the party. The two forces met at Ughoton, with the British force being defeated and the majority of its leaders either killed or captured. This was used by Philips to justify a much larger 'punitive' expedition, under the command of Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson. On 9 February 1897 Rawson invaded Benin with a force of 1200 heavily armed soldiers and marines, with the city of Edo falling on 18 February. The city was subsequently looted of its rich artwork, with individual soldiers, sailors and marines stripping not just the royal palaces and major temples of the city, but also smaller shrines and the homes of individual citizens. These artefacts were subsequently shipped back to the UK, and disposed of as their new owners saw fit, either being sold privately to museums or collectors, or retained as momentoes of the expedition.
Following Nigerian independence from the British Empire in 1960, a campaign for the restoration of the stolen artefacts to Benin began, although this was hampered by the disorganised way in which the artworks were distributed. Benin Bronzes were scattered among private and museum collections around the world, catalogued in a variety of different languages, if at all. Worse yet, many were, and still are, being traded by on art markets around the world. Since the 1980s, the dispersal of the Benin Bronzes (and artefacts looted during the colonial period in general) has been subjected to an increasing amount of academic study, and a clearer image of the current location of these objects has become more clear, and a process of returning stolen artworks has been begun by some museums, but no single resource has been available providing data on the scattered objects.
Artefact listed as 'Magnificent 19th Century Benin Bronze ancestor altar of African Dignitary Kingdom Of Benin Bronze 10.9 lbs. (4.94kg) great detail lost wax' for sale on the Etsy online marketplace in November 2022, with a list price of £2236.14. FineOldArt/Etsy.Launched online in November 2022, the Digital Benin project aims to rectify this problem. The website is the result of two years research by investigators from Nigeria, France, Austria, the United States and Germany, funded by the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung. The project has obtained details of artworks held in museums and collections around the world, along with photographs, documentation accompanying the artefacts within the museums (some of which contains language considered to be derogatory, racist, and harmful by modern standards, but which the curators of the site have decided to include as part of the historical context of the objects), along with interpretations of the artwork by the scholars behind the site, based upon their own research and the oral history of the people of Benin.
The Digital Benin website lists artefacts currently held in 131 institutions in twenty countries, along with an educational resource providing information on these objects, a searchable catalogue, an interactive map of the region, and a selection of oral histories from the Benin region.
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