Provenance

7 events

Production

unknown to February 22, 1897 (day approximate)

The object was produced by Unknown member(s) of the Emada in Benin City.

Looted

February 22, 1897 (day approximate) to June 1899 (year approximate)

The object was looted by February 1897 Unknown member of the British colonial military campaign on Benin from Benin Kingdom.

Unknown

1899 (approximate)

The object is known to have come into contact with John Lembcke, in Benin City.

Transfer

1899 (approximate)

The object was transferred from John Lembcke through L. Pagenstecher & Co. from Benin City to Hamburg.

Purchase

1905

The object was purchased by the MARKK Museum am Rothenbaum Kulturen und Künste der Welt from John Lembcke in Hamburg.

Exhibition

December 17, 2021 to open end

The object was exhibited by the MARKK Museum am Rothenbaum Kulturen und Künste der Welt at Hamburg.

Restitution

December 16, 2022

The object was restituted by the MARKK Museum am Rothenbaum Kulturen und Künste der Welt to the Omo n'Oba n'Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Ọba of Benin & National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria through Carsten Brosda, S.E. Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, Abba Isa Tijani and Barbara Plankensteiner from Hamburg to Nigeria.

Institution data

MARKK Museum am Rothenbaum Kulturen und Künste der Welt

The data was transferred directly by the institution.

Last updated: 2022-06-10

Languages: german, english

Institution field	Value
Identifikationsnummer object id	1047:05
Titel designation	Holzkasten, beschnitzt
Materialien material	ORGANISCH/ PFLANZLICH/Holz
Heutiges Staatsgebiet des Herstellungsortes production place	Afrika/Westafrika/Nigeria/Benin-Reich
Provenienz/Name prior source provenance	Lembcke
Provenienz Objektitinerar Akteure Orte Daten provenance	John Lembcke
Provenienz/Affiliation provenance	L. Pagenstecher & Co.
Provenienz/Country provenance	Germany
Provenienz/Date of Birth provenance	19.03.1873
Provenienz/Date of Death provenance	unknown
Provenienz/First Name provenance	John
Provenienz/No provenance	25
Provenienz/Place of Birth provenance
Provenienz/Place of Death provenance	unknown
Provenienz/Profession provenance	Merchant
Provenienz/Role-Function/0 provenance	Consignor
Provenienz/Role-Function/1 provenance
Provenienz/Sex provenance	male
Provenienz/Short Biography provenance	John Lembcke (1873-?) originally came from Mecklenburg and was a Hamburg merchant. He worked as an agent for the trading company L. Pagenstecher & Co. in southern Nigeria. The company maintained several branches in Cameroon and Nigeria and traded raw rubber, among other things.Lembcke was probably employed at a branch of the firm in Warri, from where he went to nearby Benin City. There, he found objects which he eventually brought to Hamburg. Between 1899 and 1905, he sold 40 objects from the Kingdom of Benin to the museum.
Provenienz/Street provenance	Hammmerlandstr. 75 II (Address Mrs. C. Lembcke, widow)
Provenienz/Town provenance	Hamburg
Hersteller kulturhist. Herkunftsgesellschaft ethnic attribution	--/Edo
Heutiger Aufbewahrungsort Sammlung department and institution	Museum am Rothenbaum. Kulturen und Künste der Welt (MARKK)
Akquisitionsdatum accession date	1905
Alte Inventarnummer
Inventurdatum	10.11.2009
Label Text (deu)	Holzkasten mit Reliefschnitzerei Unbekannter Omada-Künstler, Königreich Benin, Nigeria, 19. Jh. / Holz / Ankauf von John Lembcke, 1905, Inv. Nr. C 1047:05 Neben einer übergroßen Schlange, und Pflanzen mit Vögeln ist auf der Kiste als zentrales Motiv ein Menschenopfer oder eine Exekution dargestellt. Gefesselte und geknebelte Geköpfte finden sich als wiederkehrendes Motiv auf unterschiedlichsten Benin- Werken. Einzig dem Oba stand es zu über Tod und Leben zu entscheiden. Nur der König durfte Gefangene oder Sklaven als menschliche Opfer zur Ehrung von Gottheiten und seiner Ahnen während wichtiger Zeremonien darbringen lassen. Ende des 19. Jhs. nutzte das British Empire gezielt vorgebliche Menschenopfer als Argument für die Kolonisierung Benins und maskierte damit eigene wirtschaftliche Interessen.
Label Text (eng)	Wooden Box with Relief Carvings Unidentified Omada artist, Benin Kingdom, Nigeria, 19th century / Wood / Acquired from John Lembcke, 1905, Inv. no. 1047:05 The box is adorned with carvings of an oversized snake, plants with birds, and as central motif a human sacrifice or execution. Gagged and handcuffed, beheaded victims are a recurring motif on a variety of Benin works. Only the Oba owned the right to decide over life or death. It was a privilege of the king to have prisoners or slaves offered as human sacrifices to honour the gods and his ancestors during important ceremonies. In the late 19th century, the British Empire deliberately used alleged human sacrifices as an argument for overthrowing Benin, thereby masking their own economic interests.
Maße	Breite: 57,00 cm; Höhe: 24,20 cm; Tiefe: 28,50 cm

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Provenance

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