Benin Decorative Bronze Plaques
Description:
Benin Bronzes - Benin Bronzes, group of metal plaques once decorating palace of Kingdom of Benin
Case Status: Object(s) not relinquished
Year Claim Initiated: 2018
Year Claim Resolved:
Means of Resolution:
Complainant Name: Government of Nigeria
Complainant Nation: Nigeria
Complainant Nation Economy: In Transition
Complainant Type: Public: Government
Respondent Name: British Museum
Respondent Nation: United Kingdom
Respondent Nation Economy: Developed
Respondent Type: Public: Institution
Reference Links:
Files:
https://research.cgu.edu/cultural-property-disputes-resource/wp-content/uploads/sites/63/2021/01/display_restitution_and_world_art_history.pdf
Caption:
Editor's Notes:
The British Museum holds 700 of these bronze plaques, the most of any other institution, but they are not alone. Museums in New York, Philadelphia, Vienna, Berlin, and others also house significant numbers of the bronzes. The British Museum is currently facing the most pressure for restitution in the face of the Victoria & Albert Museum's recent decision to loan items from the Maqdala treasure back to Ethiopia. The British Museum also has faced criticism for not returning their own Maqdala treasure collection, and now the government of Nigeria has added to the mounting demands.