Metal in Most Benin Bronzes Originates From Germany, Study Reveals

The Benin Bronzes are a collection of several thousand of brass sculptures from the palace of the ruler of the Benin Kingdom (modern-day Nigeria), dating back to at least the 16th century. Until now, research on the origins of the metals used in their casting provided no clear results, but a new study shed light on this scientific mystery.

The initial source of the brass the Benin Bronzes was produced in Germany and likely shipped to western Africa, a recent study published by the journal PlOS One, has revealed.

Insight into Atlantic Trade

At the center of the story are so-called manillas, horseshoe-shaped rings made of brass, which were used as the currency of the Portuguese trade in the 16th and 17th centuries. Historians have repeatedly expressed an assumption that European manillas from Great Britain, Germany or Scandinavia were used for the production of the Benin artifacts. However, they had no empirical evidence.

Now, Tobias Skowronek, a geochemist from the Technical University Georg Agricola, Bochum, Germany, along with his colleagues and co-writers, has provided the first evidence that the brass material came from Europe and could be even the only source of raw materials for the West African foundry industry.

The researchers used documentary sources, as well as geochemical analysis to demonstrate that the source of the early Portuguese manillas and the Benin Bronzes was the same and originated from the German Rhineland.

There were few historical documents and contracts between German brass producers and Portuguese or Spanish merchants. Documentary sources indicated that hundreds of thousands of horseshoe-shaped copper and brass rings were shipped from Europe to West Africa following the beginning of the Portuguese trade in the late 15th century, and scientists have suggested that they were the metallic sources of the Benin Bronzes.

Therefore, Skowronek began to look for the early manillas himself in museums in Europe, Africa and the USA. Eventually, he found what he was looking for: numerous pieces had been discovered in the wrecks of sunken ships off the coasts of Ghana, Portugal and Spain. He was allowed to take samples, and then compared the derived data with those of relevant European ores and those of the Benin Bronzes. It was noted that they had access to a vast base of Benin material with over 700 available chemical analyses.

The study revealed that Germany was the principal source of the manillas used in the West African trade between the 15th and 18th centuries, as the chemical composition of these manillas is similar to the ores of Rhineland.

"Manillas had no purpose in European societies: they were a product specifically produced for the African trade and it is clear from documentary sources that Africans were selective in the products they accepted," the study revealed.

Examples of sampled manillas from the seven sites.

© Photo : PlOS One / Tobias B. Skowronek et al.

It also turned out that the lead isotope ratios of the brass rings were the most suitable for determining the origin of the Benin bronzes. Thus, the researchers came to the conclusion that the manillas were actually used to create the Benin artworks.

At the same time, the study underlined that "the difference in trace elemental patterns between manillas and Benin Bronzes does not allow postulating that they have been the only source."

Works of Art Looted by the British

The Benin Bronzes presented in the form of heads, plaques, figurines and other objects "are the most famous ancient works of art in all of West Africa," according to the researcher Skowronek.

Thousands of art objects were seized by the British 125 years ago during a raid on the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now modern-day Nigeria. The artifacts eventually made their way into museums and private collections all over the world, including Germany.

Recently, the West African nation has intensified its efforts to have these cultural items returned. The largest collection of the artifacts is in the British Museum in London. The Horniman Museum, another British museum, and the University of Cambridge, as well as several museums in Germany and the United States have returned their collections of bronzes to Nigeria.