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Cannon
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Entry in the main historical catalogue: "Large breech-loading cannon". With a small depiction of a human headAccording to Luschan, local work modelled on European "Drehbassen" (ca. 17th century). Burst not far from the original muzzle.catalogue for the Benin exhibition (2008)This one cannon was one of the firearms brought to Benin by the Portuguese at the turn of the 16th century. Its barrel bears the royal coat of arms of Portugal and a raised armillary sphere. The other cannon was made in Benin itself according to the imported patterns. These projectiles contributed to the feared strength of Benin's army.

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Ethnologisches Museum
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Cataloguing data

Object type
Cannon
Dimensions
Height: 217 cm
Width: 24 cm
Depth: 43 cm
Weight: 87 kg
Material/Technique
Bronze, copper alloy, Iron, Brass
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
III C 8511

Provenance and sources

where
Benin [kingdom]
when
16th century-18th century.
where
Nigeria [Land]
Benin [Königreich]
who
Heinrich Bey - Collectors
Description
16th century - 18th century, commissioned work in the Kingdom of Benin; ownership before 1897 currently unknown; probably looted in connection with the British conquest of Benin, 1897; in unknown possession after the conquest of the Kingdom of Benin; collected on behalf of the firm Bey & Co. between 1897 and 1898 in the territory of the later colonial Nigeria; sold to the Königliches Museum für Völkerkunde in Berlin, 1899.

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CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
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