M0012647: Bronze Benin head, Nigeria

Previous title, replaced August 2022: Bronze Benin head, Nigeria

Photograph of a bronze Benin head with carved elephant's tusk made in the early 19th century by the Edo peoples of Benin, Nigeria. The tusk was looted from Benin in 1897 and then bought at auction from Fosters' in July 1931 (A97600) from a 'Gentleman who was a member of the Benin expedition' by the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum. The bronze head was bought at Sotheby's in July 1934 (A174914, R9165/1936) by the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum. Between 1936 and 1937 they were combined together and given a new registration number (R1739/1937). Both the horn and head were donated to the Fowler Museum UCLA in 1965 (X65.9129, X65.9130). The photograph was included in the catalogue for a Wellcome Historical Medical Museum Exhibition illustrating the medicine of the aboriginal peoples in the British Commonwealth, London, 1952.

August 1952

1 photograph glass plate negative; 12 x 16.5 cm

Wellcome Collection holds documentation for the items depicted in the glass plate negative: A174914

Copyright is held by Wellcome Collection

Catalogue data comes from a combination of entries in the original glass plate registers, metadata created when the glass plates were digitised in the early 2000s and enhancements made by the cataloguer in 2022.

Please consult the digitised version as this item is fragile. Email library@wellcomecollection.org to request access to the physical item.