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Kingdom Of Bronze: Benin Art & The Benin Bronzes DVD Video Download

Kingdom Of Bronze: Benin Art & The Benin Bronzes DVD Video Download
Kingdom Of Bronze: Benin Art & The Benin Bronzes DVD Video Download
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Distinguished English Broadcaster, Natural Historian And Author David Attenborough Reveals The Beauty And Glory Of The Art Of The African Kingdom Of Benin (1180–1897), Art Wrought Mainly In Bronze And Ivory As Testaments To Benin's Religion And History, Art Which Forced Modern Europeans To Acknowledge That Africa Was Capable Of Highly Developed Art And Culture, Presented In The Highest DVD Quality MPG Video Format Of 9.1 MBPS As An Archival Quality All Regions Format DVD Or MP4 Video Download! (Color, 1975, 47 Minutes.) #KingdomOfBronze #DavidAttenborough #KingdomOfBenin #EdoKingdom #EdoEmpire #Benin #BeninArt #BronzeArt #IvoryArt #BeninExpeditionOf1897 #BritishEmpire #Ethnocentrism #Art #ArtHistory #HistoryOfArt #Africa #AfricanHistory #HistoryOfAfrica #History #WorldHistory #Documentaries #DVD #MP4 #VideoDownload

The Benin Bronzes are a group of some two thousand metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin in what is now Nigeria. Collectively, the objects form the best-known examples of Benin art, and were created from the thirteenth century onwards by artists of the Edo people. Apart from the plaques, other sculptures in brass or bronze include portrait heads, jewellery and smaller pieces. Most of the plaques and other objects were stolen by British forces during the Benin Expedition of 1897 as imperial control was being consolidated in Southern Nigeria. Two hundred pieces were taken to the British Museum in London, while the rest found their way to other European museums. A large number are held by the British Museum with other notable collections in Germany and the United States. The Benin Bronzes led to a greater appreciation in Europe of African culture and art. Initially, it appeared incredible to the discoverers that people "supposedly so primitive and savage" were responsible for such highly developed objects. Some even wrongly concluded that Benin knowledge of metallurgy came from the Portuguese traders who were in contact with Benin in the early modern period. The Kingdom of Benin was a hub of African civilization long before Portuguese traders visited, and it is clear that the bronzes were made in Benin by an indigenous culture. Many of the dramatic sculptures date to the thirteenth century, centuries before European contact, and a large part of the collection dates to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It is believed that two "golden ages" in Benin metal workmanship occurred during the reigns of Esigie (fl. 1550) and of Eresoyen (1735–1750), when their workmanship achieved its highest quality. While the collection is known as the Benin Bronzes, like most West African "bronzes" the pieces are mostly made of brass of variable composition. There are also pieces made of mixtures of bronze and brass, of wood, of ceramic, and of ivory, among other materials. The metal pieces were made using lost-wax casting and are considered among the best sculptures made using this technique.

Benin Art is the art from the Kingdom of Benin or Edo Empire (1440–1897), a pre-colonial African state located in what is now known as the Southern region of Nigeria. Primarily made of cast bronze and carved ivory, Benin art was produced mainly for the court of the Oba of Benin – a divine ruler for whom the craftsmen produced a range of ceremonially significant objects. The full complexity of these works can be appreciated only through the awareness and consideration of two complementary cultural perceptions of the art of Benin: the Western appreciation of them primarily as works of art, and their understanding in Benin as historical documents and as mnemonic devices to reconstruct history, or as ritual objects. This original significance is of great importance in Benin.

The Kingdom Of Benin (also known as The Edo Kingdom, or The Benin Empire) was a kingdom in what is now in south-west Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern nation-state of Benin, which was historically known as Dahomey from the 17th century until 1975. The Kingdom of Benin's capital was Edo, now known as Benin City in Edo state, Nigeria. The Benin Kingdom was "one of the oldest and most developed states in the coastal hinterland of West Africa". It was formed around the 11th century AD, and lasted until it was annexed by the British Empire in 1897.