Bracelet

Cast brass bracelets of this kind, set with pieces of coral and agate, are high-status items worn by the Oba, his wives, and by the daughters of wealthy chiefs. Obas of Benin may also have awarded these items to individuals who provided them with special services. This bracelet was originally purchased by Henry Stow for the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum in 1933 from Messrs Foster, an antiques dealer and auctioneer at 54 Pall Mall, London. The seller may have belonged to the family of a European participant in the British military conquest and looting of Benin in February 1897. The bracelet was presented to World Museum by the trustees of the Wellcome Collection in 1951 via the British Museum.