The Restitution Efforts of Oba Akenzua II and the Significance of the Benin Royal Stools

The Benin Royal Stools belonged to Oba Esigie, who ruled Benin from 1504–1550, and Oba Eresoyen, who ruled Benin from 1735–1750. Both stools (Erhe) are cylindrical, of similar size and constructed in nearly the same way. The more elaborately designed stool is brass, while the less detailed one is wooden. There is conflicting information about which stool belonged to whom. Prince Patrick Orosanye postulates that the brass stool attributed to Oba Eresoyen may have actually belonged to Oba Esigie, likening it to the Baroque sculpting style practiced in Europe around the estimated time of its creation. Conversely, art historians Barbara W. Blackmun and Paula Girshick Ben-Amos record the more ornately decorated stool as more likely belonging to Oba Eresoyen and the plainer wooden one to Oba Esigie.

Some of the icons represented on the brass stool include a central icon known as the Maltese Cross, an object in the middle of the seat representing the sun, an ancestral staff symbolising wealth, a half moon, a simian face, cowrie shells, a frog, an elephant trunk ending with a hand, and a boa constrictor snake, twisted around itself to join the seat of the stool to its base.

The pre-colonial Kingdom of Benin in Benin City, located in the South-West of present day Edo State, Nigeria.

The royal stools were used by the reigning Obas of Benin to gain favour with their ancestors during coronation rites.

Both stools were repatriated to Nigeria by the German government in 2022. They were restituted to the Palace of the Oba under the rule of Oba Ewuare II in May 2024. They had previously been held in the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.

The two royal stools were among several belongings looted from the Palace of Oba Ovonramwen during the British raid in February 1897. British troops attacked Benin City with overwhelming force in retaliation for the deaths of a group of unarmed British officials and traders led by Acting Consul-General James Phillips. Phillips and his men had insisted on entering Benin territory despite warnings, at a time of a sacred ceremony that forbade outsiders from seeing the Oba. Benin warriors were ordered to defend the kingdom and killed Phillips and his men, who had disregarded the custom.

The expedition was also aimed at asserting British economic control over the region. Despite their military prowess, Benin warriors stood little chance against British weaponry, and the kingdom was overpowered. This was followed by the forceful removal of Oba Ovonramwen and the looting of thousands of cultural belongings and steganographic libraries of recorded Benin history. The looted items included the two royal stools, leading to the swift collapse of a civilisation over 3,000 years old.

The 1897 expedition was the most damaging event in recorded Benin history. Many of the looted belongings, including bronze plaques, three-dimensional sculpted portraits of royalty, animals, gongs, stools, and engraved ivory tusks, were functional in customary, legal, ceremonial and ritual activities. They also served as historical records. Specifically, the looting of the royal stools resulted in the loss of an essential channel for communicating between the living and ancestral spirits, who were acknowledged and appeased during important ceremonies like the coronation of an Oba.

The first demand for the royal stools from the British was made by Oba Eweka II in 1914, shortly after his father’s exile to Calabar. The request, made informally to a British colonial official, was denied, as the stools were considered valuable spoils of war.

In 1933, Oba Akenzua II made a second informal request during his coronation, for necessary rites as the monarchy was still being restored after 17 years of a broken socio-political system. His request was also denied. 

Oba Akenzua II leveraged his knowledge of both Western and Benin administrative systems to pursue restitution. In February 1935, he met Ivor Windsor-Clive, the 2nd Earl of Plymouth and Under Secretary to the British Colonies, initiating formal demands to Britain and Germany. Communications with auction houses such as Stevens and Sotheby’s proved fruitless. By October 1935, it was confirmed that the stools were in a German museum.

On 5th February 1936, German art historian and ethnologist, Eckart von Sydow, confirmed the stools’ illustrations appeared in Luschan’s Altertümer von Benin (1919). Negotiations began, but the Berlin State Museums (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) were unwilling to release the original stools. William Ockelford Oldman, a British art collector and dealer who had been privy to the search for the Royal Stools proposed creating replicas. Professor Dr Otto Kümmel, Director General of the Berlin State Museums, approved the replicas on the condition that Oba Akenzua II covered the costs.

The commissioning of replicas was formalised on 23rd April 1938, and the replicas were delivered to Lagos by 5th January 1939, costing 1,582 Reichsmarks. Whether the Oba was pleased with the replicas is unknown.

On 17th  June 1943, another restitution demand was initiated on behalf of Oba Akenzua II by English barrister Philip Guedalla. The  British colonial office responded that the stools are highly valuable and recommended waiting until after the Second World War to further the discussion.

In the early 21st century, renewed efforts focused on broader restitution of Benin Bronzes, including petitions to the British Parliament and art exhibitions in Nigeria between 2010 and 2015.

In 2019, the German Government committed to returning items acquired illegally or morally unjustifiably.  In March 2021,  Germany announced its intention for full restitution.

On 1st July 2022, a Joint Declaration between Nigeria and Germany committed to releasing 1,130 Benin Bronzes, including the two royal stools. Collaborative efforts began to prepare adequate conservation facilities and professional skills for the returned items.

In December 2022, 22 Benin Bronzes, including the royal stools were handed over to the Minister of Information and Culture, Nigeria, Hon. Lai Mohammed, by German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock. The National Commission for Museums and Monuments acknowledged the discourse around ownership and repatriation, making a significant move to return the royal stools to the palace of the Oba of Benin. 

In May 2024, the royal stools were formally handed over by the Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Mr. Oluigbe Holloway, to Oba Ewuare II, restoring the spiritual and ceremonial significance, and provided a sense of closure after 125 years.

The royal stools have been restituted to their rightful place of origin – the palace of the Oba of Benin Kingdom, Oba Ewuare II.