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
Pitt-Rivers (Lane Fox), Augustus Henry
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Edo designations mentioned

2 items
Osogan
Osogan
Related english designations
Osun Staff
Ebẹn
Ebẹn
Related english designations
Ceremonial Sword
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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,A154.61
PRN
EPF11262
Add ID/s
6713-14 (William Webster numbers)~6718-20 (William Webster numbers)
Bibliography
King & Waterfield 2006: ~Webster 1898-9: Cat.19, figs.54-58
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 five objects: three iron Osun staffs; two metal eben swords. 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: annotation (front of mount; below photograph) in English~ Inscription quoted: 54. Wrought-iron standard. £7.0.0. sold to. 55. Wrought-iron ceremonial sword. £15.0.0. sold to Gen. Pitt-Rivers. 56. Wrought-iron standard. £10.0.0. do. Gen. Pitt-Rivers. 57. Wrought-iron ceremonial sword. £20.0.0. do. Gen. Pitt-Rivers. 58. Wrought-iron standard. £10.0.0. sold to ~ Inscription note: Handwritten in black ink. Description of objects from the Kingdom of Benin, with indicative purchase prices and names of some 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: 54. to the Field Museum, Chicago in 1905. Accession number: 89836. 55. unknown. 56. unknown. 57. unknown. 58. by 1904 to Francis John Henry Jenkinson in 1904 through dealer Samuel G. Fenton. Acquired by the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology in same year. Accession number: E 1904.376.
URL
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/EA_Af-A154-61
Sensitive Content

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