In this blog series, the Colonial Collections Consortium presents a historical object or collection from a colonial context or situation, currently (or until recently) stored in a museum in the Netherlands that has been the focus of provenance research. Our latest blog focuses on a relief plaque from the Benin Kingdom in Nigeria.
The relief plaque is part of the large and scattered collection of royal artefacts from Benin Kingdom (today Edo state in Nigeria) that were looted in the late nineteenth century. These historic objects – known collectively as the Benin Bronzes – are an expression of Benin culture, history and arts.
The relief plaque (or Ama in Edo) representing a mudfish was until recently part of the collection of Museum de Fundatie in Zwolle, in the Netherlands. Recently, archival research and technical analysis confirmed that the bronze plaque finds its provenance in Benin City. The provenance research into this object was financially supported by the Colonial Collections Consortium.
In this blog, you can read more about the provenance research, de role of the Benin Bronzes in the international restitution debate, the restitution of the bronze plaque and the exhibition Back to Benin – New Art, Ancient Legacy, which is currently on show at Museum de Fundatie.
Provenance research blog #5
In the blog series of the Consortium Colonial Collections, we present a historical object or collection from a former colonial context or situation, currently (or until recently) stored in a museum in the Netherlands that has been the focus of provenance research. Each blog explains the steps taken by the respective museum or external provenance researcher to carry out the research. Which stories lie behind the object and what can they tell us about the Dutch colonial past?
In focus this time: a relief plaque from the Benin Kingdom in Nigeria
The Benin Bronzes and the restitution debate
In this blog, we zoom in on a single item – a cast bronze plaque showing a relief representation of a mudfish. This item is part of the large and scattered collection of royal artefacts from Benin Kingdom (today within the Edo State in Nigeria) that were looted in the late nineteenth century. These historic objects – known collectively as the Benin Bronzes – are an expression of Benin culture, history and arts. They were created by specialist guilds working for the royal court of the Oba (king) in Benin City, in what is today Nigeria. The Benin Bronzes include, for example, elaborately decorated cast plaques, commemorative heads, animal and human figures and personal ornaments. They were made from at least the sixteenth century onwards and originally used as royal representational arts to portray historical events, to worship and to perform rituals. These objects were looted by British forces from the Benin Kingdom in 1897 and were distributed all over the world following this violent military campaign.
The Benin Bronzes have gained a lot of attention in recent years as they have been at the centre of debates in Europe about reckoning with its colonial past and the need to return the many historic belongings that were taken to European museums at that time, often under violent circumstances. Although seemingly recent, the current debate about restitution in Western contexts is preceded by a decades-long process that includes countless efforts from formerly colonised communities and countries to recover their historic belongings and ancestral remains. According to Eiloghosa Oghogho Obobaifo’s brief chronology, efforts to restitute the Benin Bronzes can be traced back at least to the 1960s. Bénédicte Savoy traces these and many other restitution efforts across the African continent in her recent book Africa’s Struggle for Its Art.
The situation seems to be slowly shifting, with European countries increasingly willing to return some of the belongings looted in colonial times. For instance, and following the initiative of other countries, the Netherlands returned 119 Benin Bronzes in the summer of 2025 to the Nigerian government.
Shifting the scope of provenance research
The relief plaque (or Ama in Edo) representing a mudfish was until recently part of the collection of Museum de Fundatie in Zwolle, in the Netherlands. This museum’s collection of more than 11.000 objects is composed of several, mainly private, collections. The basis was laid by Dirk Hannema (1895-1984), an art expert and the initiator of the Hannema-de Stuers Foundation, the origin of Museum de Fundatie. Before being forcibly removed, the relief plaque would have been part of the ornamentation of the Oba’s royal palace in Benin city.
Initially, provenance research in the Netherlands (as in other contexts) focused mainly on objects that had been forcibly expropriated during the period 1933-1945. Between 2009 and 2013, Museum de Fundatie was part of a national project organised by the Dutch Museums Association (Nederlandse Museumvereniging) to establish whether objects in collections were connected to this history. In this context, the provenance of the Benin Bronze of Museum de Fundatie was only investigated in relation to the period 1933-1945. This was done by examining the collection database, the museum’s archives and other sources.
In 2020, the debate about the restitution of colonial collections gained renewed attention in Europe, leading the museum to unearth further information about the origins, authenticity and provenance of the object. The relief plaque’s history had thus far only been traced up to 1937. What was already known about the origin of the plaque? A note by the founder of Museum de Fundatie, Dirk Hannema, showed that he had bought the relief in 1937 through art dealer Carel van Lier in Amsterdam, who had the item on loan from part of a display from Paris dealer Charles Ratton. Archival research revealed that a bas-relief of a fish bearing a strong resemblance to the Museum de Fundatie’s plaque was sold by auctioneers Messrs. Foster of Pall Mall, London on 26 June 1930. It is suspected that Ratton acquired the item there. The auction catalogue states that it came from the collection of a ‘gentleman’ and had previously been shown at the Brighton Museum (now Brighton & Hove Museums). This supports the hypothesis that the piece might have ended up in the UK via a British officer who may have been involved in the looting in 1897.
A material approach to provenance research
Since archival research was unable to provide further information about the provenance of the relief plaque, the museum decided to subject it to technical analysis in July 2025. An XRF (X-ray fluorescence) scan, which is a non-destructive analytical technique used to determine the elemental composition of materials, such as metals, plastics, or soil, showed that the plaque is made of brass, with no traces of nickel. This fact strengthened the possibility that this is a historical piece produced in Benin, rather than a modern reproduction. Subsequent chemical analysis on a small sample revealed that the metal consists of brass with small quantities of lead and tin, a composition that corresponds to the brass used in Benin and in European manillas — horseshoe-shaped pieces of metal used primarily as a form of currency. The lead isotope ratios also bear a strong resemblance to those of manillas from an eighteenth-century shipwreck found off Cape Cod, further confirming the origin of the piece. Although it is still not possible to determine with certainty how the relief plaque ended up in Paris after having been looted in 1897, the material analysis was able to confirm the origins of the bronze plaque in the collection of Museum de Fundatie.
Reflection
In this blog, we explored how shifting societal debates about the colonial past can influence the way in which museums view and research their collections. Furthermore, the case presented here showed that in some cases, material analysis of historical objects or collections can answer questions that archival research is unable to verify with certainty. Given the conclusions of the provenance research, Museum de Fundatie returned the relief plaque to the Royal House of Benin in November 2025. Furthermore, the plaque was renamed Ama O Ghe Ehen (plaque of a fish) and this is how it is referred to now, thanks to initial research by Osaisonor Godfrey Ekhator-Obogie.
In 2026, the museum opened an exhibition curated by Aude Christel Mgba (Curator of Contemporary Art), on the occasion of this restitution. Titled Back To Benin – New Art, Ancient Legacy, it brings together 10 contemporary Nigerian artists of Edo origin whose work, inspired by the plaque, engage in a dialogue with history, symbolism and cultural memory. More specifically, the exhibition shows the work of Osaze Amadasun, Minne Atairu, Leo Asemota, Victor Ehikhamenor, Taiye Idahor, Favour Jonathan, Osaru Obaseki, Enotie Ogbebor, Abraham Onoriode Oghobase and Phil Omodamwen. After the end of the exhibition, the Ama O Ghe Ehen will also return to Benin City physicially.
The provenance research into the relief plaque was financially supported by the Colonial Collections Consortium.
Final words
To better understand the historic and current meanings of objects, and how to ethically care for them, information about their origin and acquisition histories are essential. Provenance research is an ongoing process for museums. The Colonial Collections Consortium supports institutions that manage collections with this work by sharing knowledge and information, and by offering stakeholders a network. Would you like to know more or share information with us? Please contact us!
References and further reading
The provenance research presented in this blog was carried out by Kristian Garssen, Johan Koers and Aude Christel Mgba and the report was published in the catalogue of the exhibition Back To Benin – New Art, Ancient Legacy at Museum de Fundatie. The information presented in this blog derives from this research, as well as email communication with Aude Christel Mgba.
Date: 20 March 2026
Time: 10:00 AM EST/11:00 AM AST
Location: Online, via Zoom
Organisation: UWI Museum in partnership with the Centre for Repatriation Research
Language: English
The Museum of the University of the West Indies (UWI Museum) is organizing an online discussion in partnership with the Centre for Repatriation Research. The discussion explores growing global conversations around restitution, colonial collections in archives, museums and galleries and its implications for Caribbean. The session will focus on restitution debates and interventions from the Dutch, French and English speaking Caribbean as it relates to heritage, memory, and repair.
The session includes a presentation on the Colonial Collections Datahub by Camiel de Kom (Digitale Heritage Coach for the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands) and Arminda Franken-Ruiz (Heritage Specialist & Former Director, National Archaeological Museum, Aruba)
Date: 9 april 2026
Time: 16:00
Location: Resistance Museum Amsterdam
Organisation: Expertisecentrum Restitutie (ECR) of the NIOD and the Resistance Museum Amsterdam
Language: Dutch
The Expert Centre Restitution (ECR) of the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Resistance Museum Amsterdam present Roofkunst Ontrafeld, a series of lectures on the lesser-known sides of looted art and restitution. Historians connected to the NIOD will present recent research and surprising insights and engage in dialogue with the audience, moderated by Yuki Kho. On 9 April, Daniël Hendrikse will present the lecture Op het kruispunt van onrecht: ‘koloniale kunst’ en de Tweede Wereldoorlog.
[This text will continue in Dutch]
Onderzoek naar kunstroof tijdens WOII en naar koloniale collecties wordt meestal gescheiden, waarbij wetenschappelijke specialisatie en morele bezwaren samenhangend onderzoek in de weg staan. Tijdens deze lezing wordt aan de hand van concrete voorbeelden gezocht naar het historisch kruispunt tussen beide onderzoeksvelden. Daarbij wordt ingegaan op de vraag: Wat te doen met objecten waarbij mogelijk sprake is van gelaagd bezitsverlies: eerst onder invloed van kolonialisme en vervolgens door toedoen van de Duitse bezetter?
Opening expo: Her Love, Her StoryDate: 8 February 2026
Time: 3 PM – 5 PM
Location: OBA Oosterdok (Public Library Amsterdam), Theatre
Organisation: Our HERitage, OBA
Language: Dutch
On 8 February, the photo exposition Her Love, Her Story will be opened at the OBA Amsterdam. The exposition was created by the project Our HERitage and presents 11 portraits of Caribbean foremothers. Their stories show how love, family and identity shape new generations. The exposition will be at the photo gallery of the OBA from 3 February until 9 March.
The opening programme starts Sunday 8 February in the Theatre on the 7th floor, with welcoming words by Our HERitage-founder Fausia S. Abdul. Keynote speaker is prof. Valika Smeulders (Rijksmuseum & Colonial Collections Consortium). Additionally, speakers include authors Liesbeth Smit and Susi & Simba Mosis and participants Tiarra Simon and Robby Kibbelaar. The afteroon will be closed with an intense performance of Reframing HERstory Art Foundation, about slavery and being women.
Workshop: Relational heritage spacesDate: 27 January 2026
Time: 10 AM – 17 PM
Location: Oude Boteringestraat 36, Faculty of Religion Studies, University of Groningen
Organisation: Netherlands Chapter of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies
Language: English
On 27 January 2026, the Netherlands Chapter of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies is hosting their first workshop. The theme of this workshop is relationality in heritage spaces. The programme includes keynote lectures by Hester Dibbits (Reinwardt Academy) and Cindy Zalm (Wereldmuseum & Colonial Collections Consortium). Restitution is one of the central topics for this meeting.
Provenance research blog #4 out nowIn this blog series, the Colonial Collections Consortium presents a historical object or collection from a colonial context or situation, currently (or until recently) stored in a museum in the Netherlands that has been the focus of provenance research. Our latest blog focuses on the Dubois collection, until recently part of the collection of Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden.
The Dubois collection consists of approximately 28,000 fossil specimens gathered by Dutch scientist Eugène Dubois in the former Dutch East Indies. Over time, they acquired cultural and political significance, both for Indonesia and the Netherlands, and have been at the centre of restitution debates for several decades.
As you will read in this blog, the nature of the collection, the layered meanings it has acquired throughout the years and the decades-long discussions about its rightful ownership made the provenance research particularly complex and multidisciplinary.
Provenance research blog #4
In the blog series of the Consortium Colonial Collections, we present a historical object or collection from a former colonial context or situation, currently (or until recently) stored in a museum in the Netherlands that has been the focus of provenance research. Each blog explains the steps taken by the respective museum or external provenance researcher to carry out the research. Which stories lie behind the object and what can they tell us about the Dutch colonial past?
In focus this time: the Dubois collection.
About the collection
The Dubois collection was until recently part of the Dutch state collection and managed by Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden. It consists of approximately 28,000 fossil specimens gathered by Dutch scientist Eugène Dubois (1858-1940) in the former Dutch East Indies (present day Indonesia). Most of the fossils were excavated on the instruction of Dubois in Java and Sumatra between 1888 and 1900. They play an important role in the knowledge of and scientific debate on the evolution of humans and early hominins. Dubois wanted to prove Darwin’s theory of evolution by seeking the ‘missing link’ between apes and humans (Homo sapiens). The key pieces in the Dubois collection are fossils of Pithecanthropus erectus (popularly known as Java man, and later reclassified scientifically as Homo erectus), namely a femur, a skullcap and a molar.
Over time, the fossils – and especially the Java Man – acquired cultural and political significance, both for Indonesia and the Netherlands, and have been at the centre of restitution debates for several decades. Unlike the items addressed in previous blogs, the collection addressed here consists of a natural history collection, rather than cultural objects or belongings. However, the research carried out shows that this division is not always accurate nor constructive. As we will see in this blog, the nature of the collection, the layered meanings it has acquired throughout the years and the decades-long discussions about its rightful ownership made the provenance research particularly complex and multidisciplinary.
The restitution request
Ever since the fossils were excavated, there has been disagreement about the Dubois collection, both regarding its scientific value and its ownership. In 2022, the Republic of Indonesia submitted an official application for the collection’s restitution after which the Dutch State Secretary for Culture requested the Colonial Collections Committee to provide advice on this request. A central question was whether a natural history collection was eligible for return under the Dutch restitution policy that focusses primally on cultural objects and, if so, on which grounds. Here, the Colonial Collections Committee followed the Explanatory Memorandum (2014) of the Dutch Heritage Law (Erfgoedwet) that makes explicit that “geological and biological specimens are also included in the definition [of cultural objects]” (‘Ook geologische en biologische specimina tot het begrip [cultuurgoed] behoren’) (see Kamerstuk II 2014/15, 34109, nr. 3, page 60).
To be able to advise to the State Secretary, and following the restitution procedure, the Colonial Collections Committee requested the institution then managing the collection – Naturalis – to carry out provenance research, which resulted in a report in 2023. However, the Committee required further historical information about the context in which the excavations took place, about the legal and cultural aspects surrounding questions of ownership (of the collection itself as well as the ground from which it was excavated), and about the removal of the materials to the Netherlands. A multidisciplinary team of researchers – with cultural-historical and legal expertise – was approached to carry out this additional research.
Due to time constraints, the scale of the research and the required expertise, the extra provenance research was carried out by four researchers of the Expert Centre for Restitution of the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (Maarten van der Bent, Rosalie Hans, Wiebe Reints and Klaas Stutje), who focused mainly on historical research in the Netherlands. Indonesian researcher Yuanita Wahyu Pratiwi conducted archival research in Indonesian archives, which was integrated into the report prepared by the NIOD. Legal experts Tristam Moeliono from Indonesia and Jelle Jansen from the Netherlands focused on the questions of a legal nature.
The provenance research
Provenance research usually focuses on the moment of loss of ownership of an item or collection and when it came into Dutch hands during colonial times. The research into the Dubois collection, on the other hand, covers a history of more than 150 years. It examined the period when the fossils were excavated (and under which conditions), the scientific context and cultural values attached to fossils in the Dutch East Indies at the time, official agreements regarding the collection’s ownership and storage in the first half of the twentieth century, and the political and cultural interest in the collection by the independent Indonesian state since the 1950s. It involved researching an extensive collection of archival materials, including Dutch governmental correspondence and other documents held at the National Archives, historical correspondence held at Leiden University, as well as historical correspondence held at the National Archives of Indonesia.
The research conducted by the team at the NIOD revealed, among other things, that the fossil collection excavated in Indonesia under Dubois’s supervision has always held not only scientific value but also political and cultural significance – first from a local Javanese perspective, later from an Indisch or Eurasian perspective and, following independence, from an Indonesian perspective. Furthermore, it shows that the collection and its history need to be viewed as entangled with a colonial system characterized by unequal power relations. The colonial state and army facilitated Dubois to conduct excavations at several locations, for instance by providing numerous convict laborers who were forced to work in the excavations. The research also revealed that the sites where fossils were found were of spiritual and economic significance to the local population, and at times local populations and traders did not want to reveal their location. The circumstances under which the fossils were obtained make it plausible that they were removed against the will of the local population.
The research focused on the legal aspects was determining to the advice of the Colonial Collections Committee. It showed that based on agreements made between Dutch colonial and state officials, the Dubois collection never became the property of the Dutch state. Of particular importance was the stipulation in the Governor General’s decree of 1889 that allowed Dubois to work in Java and Sumatra that stated that Dubois was obligated to place the excavated fossils at the disposal of the Dutch East Indies government. Moreover, when the collection was transferred to the Netherlands in the 1890s to be described and studied by Dubois, this was on the condition that it remained property of the colonial government. In 1933, Minister of Colonies Colijn decided that the collection would be transferred to the then National Museum of Geology and Mineralogyin Leiden, but only after Dubois finished his work. In 1940, Dubois died without having finished processing of the collection, and the suspensive condition was not met. Based on this information, the Committee concluded that the Republic of Indonesia, as the legal successor of the Dutch East Indies government, is the legitimate owner of the collection. This was further underscored by the finding that the excavations were conducted on land owned by the Dutch East Indies government.
In a process that took three years and based on the extensive research carried out over five months, the Colonial Collections Committee advised in favour of the unconditional return of the Dubois collection to Indonesia. On 26 September 2025, the Dutch Minister for Education, Culture and Science announced that the collection of 28,000 fossils would be returned to Indonesia. The fossils known as the Java Man were returned to Indonesia on 17 December 2025, and the rest of the collection will follow in the coming months.
Reflection
The importance of the Dubois collection cannot be separated from the colonial past of the Netherlands and Indonesia. By placing the cultural history of the collection at the centre of the provenance research (alongside its scientific value), a narrative emerged in which all facets of the (post)colonial past become visible: from the oppression of the local Indonesian population, to the development of contemporary scientific disciplines in the Netherlands, the Dutch East Indies, and Indonesia, as well the ambiguous postcolonial relations between the Netherlands and Indonesia in the second half of the twentieth century.
The case addressed in this blog shows that – although often seen as purely scientific and therefore “neutral” – natural history collections cannot be viewed as separate from cultural and political developments nor do they hold solely scientific value. Furthermore, it raises important questions regarding the traditional division made between culture-historical (or ethnographic) and scientific (or natural history) collections. For this reason, the current restitution debates on items collected or looted in colonial times should expand to include not only cultural items but also other types of collections.
Final words
To better understand the historic and current meanings of objects, and how to ethically care for them, information about their origin and acquisition histories are essential. Provenance research is an ongoing process for museums. The Colonial Collections Consortium supports institutions that manage collections with this work by sharing knowledge and information, and by offering stakeholders a network. Would you like to know more or share information with us? Please contact us!
References and further reading
The information presented in this blog derives from the provenance research reports that are part of the recommendation of the independent Colonial Collections Committee, on an article written by provenance researcher Wiebe Reints and published on the NIOD website, as well as a telephone conversation with provenance researcher Klaas Stutje. More information about the return of the Dubois collection can be found on the website of the Dutch government. For more information about the Dutch policy for dealing with collections from a colonial context, please see the website of the Colonial Collections Consortium.
Date: 15 January 2026
Time: 15:30-17:00 (CET)
Location: KITLV, Herta Mohr building (Room 1.30) and online via Zoom
Organisation: KITLV
In 2026, the Royal Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) is celebrating their 175th anniversary. In the Anniversary Seminar Series, KITLV invites people who have worked with them in the past 25 years, as visiting fellows, or involved in joint research projects. For the first seminar, KITLV has invited Valika Smeulders (Rijksmuseum) for an afternoon discussing the Rijksmuseum, its collections and its research.
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is renowned world wide for its art collection, with the seventeenth century at its heart, featuring Rembrandt, Vermeer and Frans Hals. As many European national museums built in the 19th century, its focus has been on the pride and glory of the Netherlands. Still, the 17th century is also the century of the foundation of the Dutch East India and West India Companies.
How does a Dutch museum re-invent itself to align with new insights and societal changes? How are the museum field and research focuses and policies changing? In her talk, Valika Smeulders will be reflecting on the work the museum has been doing in recent years, and looking forward into the coming years.
Symposium: The landscapes and cultural heritage of Saba and St. EustatiusDate: 19 February 2026
Time: 15:00-19:00
Location: Amersfoort, Oranjestad (St. Eustatius) and online
Organisation: Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) and the Public Entities of Saba and St. Eustatius.
Language: English
Saba and St. Eustatius are two small islands in the Caribbean. Within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, they share the status of “special municipality” together with Bonaire. The history of Saba and St. Eustatius goes back thousands of years, and much of this past can still be seen in the landscape. Experts from Saba and St. Eustatius, from the wider Caribbean, and from the European Netherlands have researched and documented this cultural heritage. On 19 February 2026, they will present their findings at a symposium organized by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) and the Public Entities of Saba and St. Eustatius.
On Saba, The Unspoiled Queen of the Caribbean, people have continually adapted to changing circumstances. Its nature is pristine, and the island is renowned for its cloud forest on the volcano and the coral reef of the Saba Bank. St. Eustatius, The Historical Gem of the Caribbean, has a very different history. It was once the center of Caribbean trade. Goods from all over the world were traded here, and it was also an important port in the trade of enslaved people. Today, both islands have their own distinctive architecture, landscapes, celebrations, and traditions.
For the first time, the landscapes and heritage of Saba and St. Eustatius have been brought together in two books and in digitally accessible maps. This is necessary, as the spatial challenges are significant. Tourism, housing development, demographic changes, and climate change threaten the character of both islands.
A live connection will be established on this day between St. Eustatius and Amersfoort, allowing residents of both the Caribbean Netherlands and the European Netherlands to learn about the shared histories of Saba and St. Eustatius.