d items, jewelry, sculpture, and other forms of casting. Brass casting became a highly developed craft during the 16th century in Benin. The craft was so highly thought of by the various Obas who ruled Benin, that the Benin Court has its own brass casting guild and these works and those of bronze and ivory marks arose largely due to the royal court, what is Benin City.
Originally, brass-works and bronze-works were commissioned by the Oba and were used for decorative purposes, as well as to symbolize important historical, military, or religious events in ceremonial palaces and shrines. As one art historian notes of these works:
Brass (an alloy of copper and zinc) plaques were commissioned by various Obas, and cast by the brass casters guild using a lost-wax method. Brass was a material reserved for royalty and chiefly used in Benin. It was enduring and permanent and its ‘red’ and shiny qualities were believed to be protective of the king and the kingdom. The plaques were originally used to decorate the Oba’s palace. Here the ancestral shrines were located and the great state ceremonials and rituals took place.
During the 16th century there was an enormous increase in brass casting, and historians speculate that the manillas used as payment by the Portuguese were responsible for the new source of brass enabling this phenomenon. Manillas were brass and bronze bracelets highly sought by the Edo peoples of the Benin Kingdom. If we examine one of the brass plaques created during this era in Benin City, we can see not only how detailed the castings are but also gain a better understanding of the cultural significance behind these creations. Known as Benin
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