The British Benin Expedition is dated in fetched sources to February 9-18, 1897; art-historical accounts of Benin specifically mark February 18, 1897, as the arrival of British forces in Benin City, after which the Oba's court objects became spoils of war. Thousands of brass plaques, ivory carvings, altar heads, and other court works were removed with little record of their original ritual or architectural contexts. The objects later entered the British Museum, private hands, auctions, and museums across Europe and North America. The event is central to the history of African art because the so-called Benin Bronzes became proof of the technical and historical sophistication of Benin visual culture while also becoming emblematic of colonial plunder.
The dispersal created one of the most consequential restitution debates in modern museum history.