Vintage Benin Bronze Bust, Oba King Of Nigeria 12"X6"X4"

Description

12"height x 6"width x 4" depth
5 lbs 10 oz
This one has damage. Part of crown has been broken off.
In 1897, aBritish military forceof approximately 1,200 men under the command ofSir Harry Rawsonmounted theBenin punitive Expedition.The force was dispatched in retaliation to the ambush of a British party, at Ugbine village near Gwato on 4 January 1897 by a group of Benin soldiers who were acting without orders from the Oba; the ambush had led to the deaths of all but two of the British party. The British force captured the capital of the Kingdom of Benin, sacking and burning the city while forcing the Oba of Benin,Ovonramwen, into a six-month exile.The expeditionary force consisted of both indigenous soldiers and British officers based incolonial-era Nigeria. Numerous artworks (collectively known as theBenin Bronzes) looted from the city palace were sold off to defray the costs of the expedition.Ovonramwen died in 1914,his throne never having been restored to him.His son, grandson and now his great-grandson, however, has preserved their title and status as traditional rulers in modern-dayNigeria. Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi(ruled 18881897), also calledOverami, was theba(king) of theKingdom of Beninup until the Britishpunitive expedition of 1897