Benin bronzes are a remarkable collection of artworks created by the Edo people of Nigeria, spanning roughly from the 16th to the 19th century AD. These pieces—heads, tablets, figurines, and various ceremonial objects—are often described as bronzes, but the material is more accurately brass. The name reflects tradition and appearance more than a precise metal category. The brass in these works is widely believed to have originated from small brass rings known as manillas, which were used as currency in West African trade with Europeans. Yet historians and scientists have long noted that the evidence is not perfectly definitive, and some questions about the exact metal pathways remain unsettled.
Researchers continue to examine the metal story behind these iconic works. In recent analyses, a team of German scientists undertook a chemical study of 67 manillas recovered from five Atlantic shipwrecks and from three land sites across Europe and Africa. The dating of these rings places them in the 16th to 19th centuries, aligning with the era when large-scale exchange between Europe and West Africa was most active. The results reveal a striking similarity between the metal composition of the Benin bronzes and the makeup of these manillas used in Portuguese trade before the 18th century. This chemical kinship strongly suggests that manillas supplied the primary metal for the bronzes rather than any other brass sources.
Further insight comes from the ore sources themselves. The rings appear to derive from ores produced in the Rhine basin, a region renowned for its metallurgical activity and brass production. The consistency seen across many bronzes indicates a deliberate and discerning approach by African blacksmiths who chose specific metal blends to craft the statuettes and other objects. This consistency, coupled with the geographic link to Rhine ore, paints a clearer picture of a coordinated global trade loop where European currencies supplied material that was transformed by African artisans into objects of power, ritual, and beauty.
These findings contribute to a broader, historically nuanced view of Benin bronzes. Rather than a simple story of imported metal or a single trade conduit, the evidence points to a layered exchange system in which material provenance and artisanal skill intersected across continents. Scholars emphasize that metal choices, ore origins, and the technical decisions of smiths helped shape the distinct appearance and durability of the bronzes, which continue to captivate audiences today as vibrant records of a rich cultural heritage.