M0012647: Bronze Benin head, Nigeria

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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.

M0012647: Bronze Benin head, Nigeria

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