The Benin Bronzes shown here are part of a collection of 161 objects from Benin and will successively be complemented by more Bronzes on this website. These Bronzes came to the Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden between 1899 and 1904 as a result of the looting of the Royal Palace of Benin by British colonial troops. They were acquired with funds from the well-known Saxon patron Arthur Baessler (1857-1907) from the British ethnographica dealer William D. Webster (1868-1913) in London.

In the work “Vermisst in Benin,” the absence of the Bronzes is made the subject of discussion. It focuses not only on the history of looting and robbery, but also on the resulting absence of the significant material evidence of this cultural heritage in present-day Nigeria.