Benin artist (Nigeria) Benin Plaque, 1550–1650. Bronze; 20 1/4 in x 14 1/8 in. Work loaned out to the Denver Art Museum by the National Commission for Museums and Monuments of Nigeria in Support of the International Friendship and Collaborations Being Fostered by the Parties upon the Uncontested Return of Ancient Benin Kingdom Art to Nigeria by the Denver Art Museum.
On the weekend of March 10, 1973, 16 verandah posts, carved in a special Yoruba style, were stolen from the courtyard of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, Africa. Unaware of their looted provenance, two of the 16 entered the Denver Art Museum’s Arts of Africa collection that same year. In early 1974, the DAM learned that the recently accessioned verandah posts had been stolen from Nigeria through the 1974 International Council of Museums (ICOM) report about the theft. DAM’s then-director, Karl Otto Bach, contacted the University of Ibadan to inform them of the two posts in the museum’s collection. Between 1974 and 1975, discussions on restitution were held between the government of Nigeria and the DAM, resulting in the return of the two posts to Nigeria in February 1975.
Provenance research, which involves collecting all available information on an artwork’s history of ownership, is at the heart of the DAM’s role as an encyclopedic museum. With artworks from around the world spanning different time periods, provenance research enables the DAM to responsibly care for all artworks in its collection. At times, further research into an artwork’s authenticity and legal ownership uncovers a provenance of looting or illegal export, leading to restitution of artworks to their rightful owners. By learning as much as possible about artworks and the contexts in which they were created, provenance research helps the DAM responsibly illuminate the histories of artworks, artists, and cultures.
More recently, in 2022, the DAM deaccessioned a Benin bronze plaque it purchased in 1955 without knowing its complete history. Newly accessible documentation in 2022 showed that the plaque was one of thousands looted by British soldiers who invaded and destroyed the royal palace of the Oba (king) of Benin (present-day Edo State, Nigeria) in 1897. The term “Benin Bronzes” comes from the many cast-bronze items that once adorned the royal palace, but today collectively refers to exquisitely crafted ivory objects, metal casts, wood carvings, terracotta sculptures, and other artworks commissioned by the Benin royal court. The so-called “punitive expedition” was intended to establish British colonial control over the region and exploit its abundant natural resources. Following the invasion, the Benin Bronzes were exported to England, where they were acquired by museums and private collectors throughout Europe and the United States. The bronze plaque that ended up at the DAM was part of a small group of items that became part of the British Foreign Service collection. It was records of this specific collection that became available to DAM staff in 2022, which led to the confirmation of the provenance.
When the Benin bronze plaque at the DAM was deaccessioned, communication was initiated with the rightful owners in Nigeria. The goal was to discuss the best course of action on their terms. After several online meetings with colleagues at the Nigeria Commission for Monuments and Museums (NCMM), the DAM successfully signed an agreement in April 2025, allowing for a five-year loan of the Benin bronze plaque. In July 2025, the plaque was reinstalled in the Arts of Africa gallery with an interpretive label that shares this history. Through this partnership with the NCMM, museum visitors will have the opportunity to celebrate the rich beauty of Benin’s artistic practice, broaden their understanding of West Africa’s diverse histories, and highlight the significant impact of the looting of Africa’s heritage, past and present.
Such a partnership with the NCMM also reflects that restitution of African artworks is not just putting things in a crate and shipping them back to the relevant museum or community. Restitution is slow-moving because it moves at the speed of trust. And trust takes time because it requires repairing, healing, and building new ways of relating with African communities. Subsequently, restitution, as a form of repair, is making African dynamic histories that have been suppressed or muted to come to the fore for the DAM’s diverse publics. For example, a lesser-known fact about the Benin bronzes is that trade with the Portuguese in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries likely encouraged the development of brass casting in Benin. Because West Africa did not produce enough metal to supply the brass casting industry of Benin City, trade with merchants from outside Africa filled the gap. The Portuguese arrived in present-day Benin through the Atlantic and traded their brass ingots, often made in the form of bracelets, for pepper, cloth, ivory, and enslaved people. African cultures, such as the one in Benin City, never existed in isolation. There was always movement, trade, and the exchange of ideas—and the artwork of the time reflects this.
Restitution is more than just returning what was stolen. The partnership with the NCMM represents a radical commitment from the DAM to collaborate with African communities in rebuilding a new relationship based on respect, reciprocity, and mutuality. Although it all began with provenance research to fill in the missing gaps, the consequences have been positively monumental.
In spring 2026, the Native Arts and Provenance departments at the DAM will hold a lecture discussing restitution and collaboration with our new friends and partners from the NCMM.
