Human world

Equestrian figure

                          Edo, Benin City, Nigeria, 16th century
Accession Number 1978.226.1

Oba Ovonramwen (who reigned from 1888-1897) gave this sculpture to John Henry Swainson, a Liverpool trader, when he visited Benin with a British diplomatic expedition in 1892. Such figures were placed on royal ancestral altars and may have commemorated the military power of a particular Oba.

Purchased with the assistance of The National Art Collections Fund.