Abstract
THE real interest in the finding of the Benin bronze castings centres in the fact that a negro people seem at one time to have been able to produce bronze work showing great skill in manufacture, coupled with indications of a considerable amount of knowledge of art. The question how the craft was learned immediately suggests itself. Messrs. Read and Dalton appear (p. 16) to accept the statement of the natives (p. 6) that it was introduced by the Portuguese, but further on (p. 19) they acknowledge that it is “not easy to solve how far Europe is responsible for the art of metal casting in West Africa.” From what may be called internal evidence, we may reasonably suppose that some of the best castings date back to the end of the fifteenth or the beginning of the sixteenth century. If the Portuguese introduced the art we should expect that some specimens of Portuguese work of that date, and of equal merit, should be found in our museums. So far no such evidence is forthcoming. There is, however, no reason why the art should not have been in existence before the arrival of the Portuguese amongst the Bini in the same way as the domestic architecture in Benin and the surrounding country is most probably indigenous, or in the same way as the decorative art of the Ashantis is indigenous in so far as our knowledge goes. In all probability, the solution of the question will be found to lie in the fact that the existence of the art antedates the arrival of the Portuguese, who, however, may have given it considerable impetus. Yet it must not be taken for granted that the Portuguese were the only people who influenced the art, for there is plenty of evidence pointing to other influences, and we can rest assured that, amongst a people so fond of trade as the African negroes, trade objects would be numerous, and these would leave their impress behind them. For instance, an almost exact copy of a spiral bracelet from Benin was brought many years ago from Tunis, and is now in the Blackmore Museum, while its prototype is to be found at the present day on the banks of the Upper Congo.
Antiquities from the City of Benin, &c., in the British Museum.
By C. H. Read O. M. Dalton. Pp. 61 + Plates 32. (London: British Museum, 1899.)
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ROTH, H. Antiquities from the City of Benin, &c, in the British Museum. Nature 60, 219 (1899). https://doi.org/10.1038/060219a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/060219a0