Ancient and Modern Art in Benin City

Extract

There are great and striking differences between the art products of Benin and those of the Yoruba towns through which one passes on the way across country to that city. Efforts to find woodcarvers or brass-founders at, for instance, Ibadan were in vain, in spite of the co-operation of the Resident, Mr. Ward-Price, to whom I am also indebted for general assistance on my journey. The native arts and crafts of Benin, in comparison with those of the Yoruba towns, are still in a highly nourishing condition; the wood-carvers in particular were fully occupied. Again and again I came across altars for ancestor worship, images, carved doors, &c., which have been made during the last few score years. They show a wealth of pagan artistic skill of a high order which is most impressive, especially in contrast with the stagnation at such places as Ibadan and Ife, and is even more astonishing, as Benin was overwhelmed by a catastrophe from which one might have expected that it would never recover. A British punitive expedition conquered the city and dethroned the king in 1897 and an extensive fire burnt down the whole place. At this time most of the Benin bronze work came to Europe. Of the older products only a few were left in their original home. Consequently the art of new Benin has been built up again on a tabula rasa. But the work of these forty years is plentiful enough. One has the impression that Benin is determined to make good the colossal damage that was done to it.