Photograph Album
Unit
W. D. Webster photograph album
Institution
British Museum
Date
January 1, 1898 to December 31, 1899
Actors
Source actors
Webster, William Downing
Mentioned actors
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Pitt-Rivers (Lane Fox), Augustus Henry
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Edo designations mentioned

4 items
Uhunmwu-Ẹkuẹ
Uhunmwu-Ẹkuẹ
Related english designations
Pendant Mask
Ighẹghan
Ighẹghan
Related english designations
Crotal Bell
Ẹroro
Ẹroro
Related english designations
Bell
Ikoro
Ikoro
Related english designations
Armcuff
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An archival document representing a Photograph Album of 2 page(s)
Photograph Album
British Museum
W. D. Webster photograph album
Date
January 1, 1898 to December 31, 1899
An archival document representing a Photograph Album of 2 page(s)
Photograph Album
British Museum
W. D. Webster photograph album
Date
January 1, 1898 to December 31, 1899

Institution data

Institution fieldValue
Reg No.
Af,A154.22
PRN
EPF11223
Add ID/s
3829 (William Webster number (right proper wand))~3830 (William Webster number (left proper wand))~3833 (William Webster number (pendant mask))
Bibliography
King & Waterfield 2006:
Title/s
Benin Bronzes and Ivories (Series)
Object Name/s
photographic print (black and white)~album
Material/s
paper
Technique/s
photographic process
Description (full)
Photograph (black and white); mounted on card, part of a bound album. View of seven objects mounted on wooden board. Top centre: brass pendant mask in form of human face. Middle centre: two brass wands. Right and left sides: brass armlerts with figures. Centre lower section: brass quadrangular bell and inscription plaque. Bottom centre: brass rattle. Photographic process.
Dimension/s
Height: 24.00 cm (page)~Width: 27.40 cm (page)
Subject/s
Previous Owner
Previous owner/ex-collection: William Downing Webster
Date/s
1898-1899 (circa)
Prod. Place/s
Photographed in: London
Assoc. Ethnic Name/s
Associated with: Edo
Assoc. Place/s
Associated with: Benin City
Assoc. Event/s
Associated Event: British to Benin City - 1897
Inscription/s
Inscription:~ Inscription details: inscription (front of mount; below photograph) in English~ Inscription quoted: Two bronze ceremonial wands. Two bronze armlets. bronze bell & bronze rattle. £40.15.0. Berlin Museum. Bronze mask pendant. £9.10.0. Gen. Pitt. Rivers. ~ Inscription note: Handwritten in black ink. Descriptions of object from the Kingdom of Benin, with indicative purchase prices and names of vendors.
Curator's Comment/s
This album contains photographs of objects from the Kingdom of Benin, Nigeria sold by the London-based dealer, William Downing Webster. Many of the photographs are annotated with information relating to the vendor/s and some include purchase prices. It is likely that the photographic series was compiled by Webster in the early 1900s. The objects depicted in this photograph were sold by William Webster as follows: Pendant mask: to General Augustus Pitt Rivers by 1900. Purchased by dealer, John Hewett, UK. Merton Simpson Gallery, New York, USA. Donald Morris Gallery, Detroit, USA. Robert and Judith Weston, Detroit, USA. Julian Kaplin, Toldeo, USA; Estate of Julian Kaplin. Donald Morris Gallery, Inc, New York, USA. Purchased through the Lathrop Fellows in 1999 for the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, USA, Accession number: 999.42.33929. Wands, armcuffs, bell and rattle: to Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in 1898. Accession numbers: III C 8072a-b (wands); III C 8074-5 (armcuffs); III C 8079 (bell); III C 8082 (pendant rattle). By jhudson 03 Apr 2023~This page of the album also contains Af,A154.21 & 23 (right and left proper). By jhudson 20 Apr 2023
URL
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/EA_Af-A154-22
Sensitive Content

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