A note on Benin's recent antiquities.

In the 1980s, ivories and bronzes misrepresented as Benin antiquities began to appear with regularity in the U.S. and Europe. The volume has steadily increased, so that duplicates and triplicates are now reaching the market. Various stories attempt to justify the introduction of these freshly aged artworks to the established Benin corpus. One popular version is that a "modern" Benin chief has inherited his family's shrines, and needing money, he is selling their furnishings. Whatever the accompanying explanation, the dealer will often accept a price below the object's "true" value if he can complete the sale quickly.

The collector or curator who is considering purchase of the object receives little help from science. Problematic Benin bronzes are often accompanied by unjustifiable laboratory certifications. A common certification is based upon microscopic analysis of the patina, although other tests are also used, with mixed results. A few years ago, a colleague showed me a small but accomplished sculpture of a seated woman, accompanied by a test report from a well-known U.S. laboratory that indicated a probable age of more than 400 years. Nevertheless, the woman's hairstyle and personal effects were typical of the late twentieth century. Other egregious examples have also appeared. The most useful test in evaluating an unprovenanced Benin object is a visual analysis based upon experienced connoisseurship, because inconspicuous aspects of the contemporary craftsmen's styles are often detectable. If this examination is inconclusive, a good laboratory may be able to ascertain that an artwork is not old. Proof of genuine antiquity is much more difficult to establish.

The most impressive art offered for sale in this trade may have been produced outside Nigeria. But as anyone knows who has worked for some time in Benin City, there are local bronzecasters and ivory carvers who are capable of producing remarkable "antiquities." In regard to ivory, it is not difficult in Nigeria for a skilled artist to find a very old tusk to carve, and further treatment by experts can increase the apparent age. As for bronze, Benin's metalworkers have been adding modern equipment since the early 1980s. In the 1990s their excellent foundries were producing altar heads, figures, animals, and plaques copied from masterpieces in Nigerian museums. They were also casting large figural sculpture and altar furnishings of their own design. The best of their original works have not been published.

Benin's new ivories and bronzes are destined not only for export but also for traditional use in ubiquitous shrines throughout the region. It is unfortunate that the most accomplished of the recent local artworks are represented abroad as antiquities and that their elevated prices reflect the false identification. Each fraudulent sale brings large profits to middlemen but not necessarily to the originators of the objects. If the parameters of this trade could be changed, we could celebrate instead the continued development of Benin's inherited art traditions, recognizing the craftsmen's ingenuity and skill.

International hierarchies of visual art consider contemporary African artists worthy of attention, if they are products of universities or other Westernized education. We also acknowledge individual African sculptors who have worked only in customary contexts. It is reasonable to appreciate traditionally trained artists who serve not only local patronage but also the global market.

I am not advocating the affirmation of copied Ife heads, "Tada figures, Vienna dwarfs, altar tusks, and other unimaginative fakes. Here and there, however, innovative shrine figures of Benin's officials emerge, and sprightly animals decorate vessels and implements in the customary mode. Some of these are worthy of recognition. Would identification of capable workshops bring valid profits to the artists? This would surely be preferable to the imminent discreditation of all unprovenanced Benin antiquities.

Barbara Blackmun, emeritus professor of art history at San Diego Mesa College, has conducted research on Benin ivories since 1979 and on Benin bronzes since 1994.