Benin Kingdom Brass Plaque: Warrior and Attendants

The Bronzes of Benin

The Kingdom of Benin — centred in present-day Edo State, Nigeria — produced some of the most technically sophisticated metal castings in pre-modern world history. Between the 13th and 19th centuries, palace guilds of brass-smiths crafted commemorative plaques, portrait heads, and ceremonial objects using the cire-perdue (lost-wax) method.

Hundreds of these plaques once lined the wooden columns of the royal palace in Benin City, forming a visual chronicle of court life, military campaigns, and ceremonial practice. Dutch and Portuguese traders who visited Benin City in the 16th century described a city of enormous palaces and extraordinary artworks that confounded European assumptions about African civilisations.

Lost-Wax Technique

Each plaque was cast from a wax model around which a clay mould was built. When molten brass was poured in, the wax melted away — leaving a unique, unrepeatable object. The process required mastery of metallurgy, sculptural modelling, and precise temperature control. The high relief of this plaque — with figures projecting several centimetres from the background — demonstrates the exceptional skill of Benin's brass-casters.