Provenance
Institution data
| Institution field | Value |
|---|---|
Accession Number: (Registration Details)/Accession Details/Accession Number/Accession No.: (Accession Details) object id | W.A.55.a |
Physical Description designation description | 9 coral beads of varying sizes. 4 are roughly spherical, 2 pipe, and 3 double cones. In a glass topped box. |
Object Name/Object Name: (Classification) object type | Beads |
Place: (Production Details) production place | Africa, Nigeria, Benin |
Accession Lot: (Collection Details)/Accession Lot: (Accession Details) prior source | [W.A...] Halifax Museum (1955/56) |
Origin provenance | Nigeria, Benin. Acquired by Bankfield Museum in 1901 and given the accession number W.A.55.a. The Bankfield accession register describes the item as: ‘Gift H.L.R. Coral and agate Necklace. from Benin, 19 coral beads. and 13 Agate beads (Reduced numbers).’ H.L.R. refers to Henry Ling Roth , he was an anthropologist, and part-time curator and keeper at Bankfield Museum from the late 19th century onwards. Roth published several anthropological texts including 'Great Benin: Its Customs, Art and Horrors’ in 1903. The book was based on the accounts of his brother Felix Norman Roth who served as a medical officer in the Niger Coast Protectorate and took part in the attack on Benin City in 1897, and it includes these beads in chapter two ‘The Appearance of the People’ on page 19. This item does not have any associated detailed archival material at Manchester Museum or in the Henry Ling Roth Papers at John Rylands Library . Eli Dawson, Curator at Bankfield Museum, has confirmed that there is no associated archive material remaining at Bankfield Museum either. However, Dawson did confirm the existence of note in the Bankfield Museum archive which states the following regarding items from Benin City: ‘Roth's brother Felix Norman Roth was a military surgeon who was on the Punitive Expedition of 1897, a possible source for Ling Roth's Benin materials.’ Further research would be required to confirm that any cultural heritage items looted from Benin City in 1897 by Felix Norman Roth were presented to his brother Henry Ling Roth. It should be noted that Norman Roth did donate looted items to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston , and World Museum Liverpool - National Museums Liverpool is currently in the process of considering the future of these items . |
Current Location/Current Location: (Current Location) display status | Manchester Museum - Coupland 1 - Basement - B.56 - Ethnology Store - Africa Chest 1 - Drawer 13 |
Copyright license | © The Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester Images (.tiff): © The Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester, photography by Michael Pollard |
Correspondence Transcripts |
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