Word: benin
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...bronzes, were discovered by William R. Bascom, of Northwestern University, during research in Nigeria, on the West African coast, near the famous native metal working center at Benin...
...list of gifts and bequests acknowledged in the report reveal the museum to be an outstanding art center. The only painting in the country by the famous impressionist, Bazille, was given the museum by his relatives. Other outstanding gifts included a Benin bronzebust from Mrs.John D.Rockefeller Jr., a group of bronze statuettes from Grenville L. Winthrop '86, and a number of Sargent's sketch books and portfolios from the artist's sister, Mrs.Francis Ormond...
...style. Natives in New Ireland did carving with mussel shells which no 20th Century artist could imitate with his tools. African tribes smelted alloys of metal in blast furnaces before white men knew of such processes, made adzes, chisels and gouges for their skilled carvers, cast fine bronzes at Benin...
...Benin flourished in a high development of art and government between the twelfth and seventeenth centuries, achieving a very rich civilization, according to museum authorities. The natives lived under a "divine monarchy" and a religious system notorious for its human sacrifices, which annually destroyed many slaves and king's favorites to pacify the local gods. These customs were continued until Benin was subdued by the British in 1897. Today scarcely a trace remains of the ancient city, with its famous palace harem lodging the king's 900 wives...
...Benin bronzes were made with the very difficult "lost wax process", and are thought to be some of the world's most expert examples of this art. Among the most famous of these works shown are a pair of leopards from the royal palace, a life-sized rooster covered with feathers in a foliage design, and numerous plaques with figures of warriors, priests, nobles, and their attendants...