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Elephant tooth
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In the ancient Kingdom of Benin, carved elephant tusks were attached to commemorative heads. Only a small circle of the initiated was able or permitted to "read" the carvings on the teeth. The carved tusks were regarded as a symbolic link between this world and the next. Elephants stood for power and longevity. The colour white symbolised purity, prosperity and peace.

Data Provider
Städtische Museen Freiburg
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Cataloguing data

Cultural attribution
Edo
Object type
Elephant tooth
Dimensions
Höhe: 1280.0 mm, Durchmesser: 115.0 mm
Material/Technique
Carving
Current location
Museum Natur und Mensch
Inventory number
I/0068
Related object(s)
is related to : I/0050
is related to : I/0051
is related to : I/0053
is related to : I/0054
is related to : I/0055
is related to : I/0056
is related to : I/0057
is related to : I/0058
is related to : I/0059

Provenance and sources

when
19th century

when
06.03.1903
who
Hoppe, Carl - Sellers

where
Benin (location/origin)
Nigeria (location/origin)
Africa (location/origin)

Provenance
The so-called Benin bronzes were captured in the course of a British punitive expedition against the Kingdom of Benin in 1897, on what is now the Federal Republic of Nigeria. in what is now the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The "Benin bronzes" found their way to museums and collections in museums and collections in Europe and North America.
The ethnological collection of the Museum Natur und Mensch currently holds ten objects from the Kingdom of Benin. These came to the former Museum of Natural History and Ethnology of the City of Freiburg through acquisitions between 1899 and 1907.
In the early 1970s, shortly after independence, the young state of Nigeria first demanded the return of art treasures from European museums that had been taken away by the British army as spoils of war after the destruction of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 and sold in Europe. In 2021, the German government announces the return of the "Benin Bronzes". On 1 July 2022, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Germany sign a political declaration of intent. Based on the declaration that has now been signed, future restitution agreements can be concluded between German museums and the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM). The City of Freiburg is also currently examining how the objects can be returned.

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Legal status metadata
CC0 1.0 DEED

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