figure
- Museum number
- Af1928,0112.1
- Description
-
Figure of Portuguese soldier; lost-wax cast in brass. Figure holds matchlock, stands on square base.
- Production date
- 16thC(late)-17thC(early) (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 37.50 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Figures of Europeans such as this Portuguese soldier were kept on royal altars or on the roof of the royal palace in Benin city. The Portuguese were represented in Benin art in various forms. Their arrival by sea and the bringing of luxury goods enabled the Portuguese travellers to be incorporated into Benin ideas associated with the god Olokun, ruler of the sea and provider of wealth. Legend has it that the Oba fought with Olokun on the beach, subdued him and stripped him of his wealth. The exhibition of European figures probably commemorated and celebrated this victory.
K. Yoshida and J. Mack (eds.), Images of other cultures (Osaka, National Museum of Ethnology, 1997)
P. Girshick Ben-Amos, The art of Benin (London, The British Museum Press, 1995)
Published on acquisition in the British Museum Quarterly, II 1927/8. pp.95-6.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
1970-1973, London, Museum of Mankind, Divine Kingship in Africa
1997-1998 Sep-Jan, Osaka, National Museum of Ethnology, Images of Other Cultures
1998, Feb-Apr, Tokyo, Setagaya Art Museum, Images of Other Cultures
2000-2001 Dec-Feb, BM, Human Image
2013 28 Jun-30 Nov, Sydney, Australian National Maritime Museum, East of India
2017 6 May-Present, Brussels, House of European History, LT loan
- Condition
- Good.
- Associated events
- Associated Event: British Expedition to Benin City Feb 1897
- Acquisition date
- 1928
- Acquisition notes
- Purchased from the London-based dealer (Sir) Sydney Burney.
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Af1928,0112.1
