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
Staatliche Ethnographische Sammlungen Sachsen und Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
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Edo designations mentioned

2 items
Ikpakohen
Ikpakohen
Related english designations
Hornblower or Fluteplayer Figure
Ewua
Ewua
Related english designations
Ewua Messenger Figure
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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,A154.2
PRN
EPF11203
Add ID/s
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 two standing figures, facing front. Figure at right proper wears cross on chest and has cat whisker marks on face. Figure at left proper plays horn and wears domed helmet. Photographic process.
Dimension/s
Height: 24.00 cm (page)~Width: 27.40 cm (page)
Subject/s
musician
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 right and left figures) in English~ Inscription quoted: Right: 'Bronze figure. £55.0.0 sold to Dresden Museum.' Left: 'Bronze figure, £45.0.0 sold to Dresden Museum.'~ Inscription note: Handwritten in black ink. Depicts two cast brass figures from the Kingdom of Benin sold by William D. Webster to Dresden Museum with purchase prices. ~Inscription:~ Inscription details: lettering (left proper corner of card mount) in English~ Inscription quoted: B~ Inscription note: Marked in pencil.
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 figures depicted in this photograph were sold by William Webster as follows: left proper: to Arthur Baessler in 1899. Donated by Baessler in the same year to State Ethnographic Collections of Saxony - Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden. Accession number: 16148. right proper: to Arthur Baessler in 1899. Donated by Baessler in the same year to State Ethnographic Collections of Saxony - Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden. Accession number: 16147. This page of the album also includes photograph Af,A154.3 (left proper).
URL
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/EA_Af-A154-2
Sensitive Content

Digital Benin collates digital material from institutions, and some of this material is inherently colonial and contains words, terms and phrases that are inaccurate, derogatory and harmful towards African and African diasporic communities. Catalogue transcriptions, book titles, exhibition titles and museum titles may contain harmful terms. We recognise the potential for the material to cause physical and mental distress as well as evoke strong emotions. Owing to the scale of the collection’s data, a process to implement sensitive-content warnings in the displayed data is still incomplete. The material within the catalogue does not represent Digital Benin’s views. Digital Benin maintains a strong anti-colonial, anti-racist position and affirms its support for centring the humanity of historically marginalised and disenfranchised communities. Read more about the background of this statement here