Benin Expedition of 1897 - Aftermath

Aftermath

Immediately after the British invaders secured the city, looting began. It was an exercise that was carried out by all members of the expedition. Monuments and palaces of many high-ranking chiefs were looted. There was evidence of human sacrifice found by the British, with Reuters and the Illustrated London News reporting that the town 'reeked of human blood.' Homes, religious buildings and palaces were deliberately torched. On the third day, the blaze grew out of control and engulfed part of the city. Most of the plunder was retained by the expedition with some 2500 (official figures) religious artifacts, Benin visual history, mnemonics and artworks being sent to England.

The British Admiralty confiscated and auctioned off the war booty to defray the costs of the Expedition. The expected revenue from the expedition was discussed already before Phillips set out on his ill-fated journey to the city of Benin in 1896. In a letter to Lord Salisbury, the British Foreign Secretary, Phillips requested approval to invade Benin and depose the Oba, adding the following footnote: "I would add that I have reason to hope that sufficient ivory would be found in the King's house to pay the expenses incurred in removing the King from his stool."

In late 1897 the art was auctioned in Paris, France, to raise funds to pay for the expedition. Most of the Benin bronzes went first to purchasers in Germany, but a sizable group is now back in London at the British Museum. The dispersement of the Benin art to museums around the world catalyzed the beginnings of a long and slow European reassessment of the value of West African art. The Benin art was copied and the style integrated into the art of many European artists and thus had a strong influence on the early formation of modernism in Europe.

The King of Benin was eventually captured by the British consul-general Moor, deposed and sent to live out his days in Calabar. He died in 1914. Moor committed suicide in Barnes, Middlesex in 1909.