The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum joined other museums in returning stolen African artifacts. A bronze sculpture of a West African king was in the museum’s possession for over 70 years and returned on Tuesday.
The RISD Museum returned the piece called an “Oba” or “Head of a King” to the Nigerian National Collections during a ceremony held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
“In 1897, the Head of an Oba was stolen from the Royal Palace of Oba Ovonranwmen,” Sarah Ganz Blythe, the RISD Museum’s Interim Director, said. “The RISD has worked with the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments to repatriate this sculpture to the people of Nigeria where it belongs. We are honored to join with the National Gallery of Art and Smithsonian Institution in important work as the first U.S. institutions to return Benin Bronzes.”
The Oba brings the number of artifacts to 31 looted Benin Bronzes that were eventually returned to the National Gallery of Art.
For years, African scholars and nations have pushed for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) to return the artifacts.
In July 2022, UNESCO approved the German and Nigerian governments signing an agreement on returning looted artifacts. The domino effect occurred, and more museums took part in the movement. Per a Newsonyx report, the Smithsonian Institution endorsed a new policy that urged its constituent museums to give back unethically acquired Benin Bronzes.
According to the RISD museum, the Oba was one of the Benin bronzes looted by British forces in 1897. The RISD Museum didn’t retrieve the artifact until Lucy Truman Aldrich gave them the Oba in 1939. The bronze was bought in 1935 from the Knoedler Gallery in New York.
The Oba demonstrated Benin’s artistry and represented a king of the Edo people in Benin.
“Nigeria is immensely gratified at the commendable decision of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, the National Gallery of Art and the Rhode Island School of Design (Museum) to return these [artifacts] that left Africa over a century ago,” Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Honourable Minister of Information and Culture Nigeria said. “Nigeria looks forward to working with these institutions on joint exhibitions and other educational exchanges. By returning the [artifacts], these institutions are together writing new pages in history. Their brave decision to return the timeless artworks is worth emulating.”
