Around the top of the mask are the carved heads of Portuguese merchants.These are symbols of the kingdom’s power and wealth through trade. Benin was famous for its craft workers. Specialists in ...

Because many of the sculptures had been originally plundered in a bloody British raid in 1897, the MFA subsequently sought a deal to transfer title to the Kingdom of Benin in exchange for a long ...

British soldiers took the bronzes from the historic Kingdom of Benin ... the people of Benin obtained the brass for many of these artefacts by trading with Portuguese merchants in exchange for ...