Provenance

3 events

Looted

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

The object was looted by Felix Norman Roth from Benin Kingdom.

Unknown

February 22, 1897 (year approximate) to December 17, 1897 (year approximate)

The object is known to have come into contact with Felix Norman Roth and Henry Ling Roth, later in Halifax.

Gift

January 1903

The object was given as a gift by Henry Ling Roth to the World Museum, National Museums Liverpool from Halifax to Liverpool.

Institution data

World Museum, National Museums Liverpool

The data was transferred directly by the institution.

Last updated: 2022-01-06

Language: english

Institution field	Value
Accession Number object id	15.1.03.19
Object Name designation object type	Personal Ornament
Description - Historic description
Description - Online label/0 description provenance	Red and orange beads in coral and carnelian or agate are still widely worn by the chiefly class in Benin today. The Oba presents a circular necklace of beads called ikele to those he gives chiefly titles. Thereafter, titled chiefs must always wear the ikele in the presence of the Oba. Such beads are valued items said to hold ase, an inherent quality likened to ‘authority’. These beads were given to the museum in January 1903 by Henry Ling Roth, curator of the Bankfield Museum in Halifax, who may have acquired them from his brother Dr Felix Roth, surgeon to the Advance Guard with the British forces that attacked and looted Benin in February 1897.
Description - Online label/1 description
Materials material	Vegetable fibre; Agate
Measurements dimensions	Overall: 20 mm x 111 mm; 13/16 in x 4 3/8 in
Object Type object type	Beaded Ornament
Item Count object count	9,00
Date Made date made	1897 before
Place Made production place	Africa: Western Africa: Nigeria: Southern Nigeria: Benin City
Collector prior source	Roth, Henry Ling
Credit Line prior source	Gift of H. Ling Roth, 1903
Date Collected date collected	1897
Place Collected place collected	Africa: Western Africa: Nigeria: Southern Nigeria: Benin City
Culture ethnic attribution	Edo [Bini]
Legal Status legal status	PERMANENT COLLECTION
Category	Globalisation: Africa

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