A striking depiction of an African king wearing coral necklaces and braids is one of the thousands of Benin Bronzes looted by British forces from Nigeria in 1897. This particular artifact is a brass head of an "oba," the traditional ruler of the Kingdom of Benin, a historic and influential monarchy in what is now southern Nigeria. The sculpture, known as an ancestral commemorative head, was created in the mid-1500s in Edo, Nigeria, using a copper alloy. In the Kingdom of Benin, when a new oba took the throne, they would commission a brass or bronze bust of their predecessor. These busts were then placed on ancestral altars in the palace, honoring the lineage of rulers. The specific head in question is currently held by the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA), which acquired it from a prominent French art dealer in the 1930s. The head, known as "uhunmwun-elao" in the Edo language, stands about 30 centimeters tall and was made using the lost-wax casting process, a technique in which a model is coated in wax and then encased in a mold. Initially, CMA experts believed the figure depicted a princess, due to the coral necklaces and thin braids. However, these features were actually symbols of royal authority. The bust's open top would have supported an intricately carved elephant tusk, used to record the oba's achievements and life events. The ancestral commemorative heads were created by the Igun Eronmwon, a hereditary guild of artisans in the Kingdom of Benin, between the 15th and 16th centuries. Brass was highly valued in Benin because it does not corrode, and much of it was imported from distant regions, including Germany. When British forces invaded the Benin royal palace in 1897, they looted thousands of artifacts, including metal plaques, sculptures, and royal ornaments. These items became collectively known as the Benin Bronzes, even though most are actually brass, an alloy of copper and zinc. The British Museum holds the largest collection of these artifacts, over 900 objects, which Nigeria has formally requested be returned. In recent years, some institutions have begun repatriating these artifacts to Nigeria. In 2022, a group of German museums transferred over 1,100 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art returned 29 pieces. In 2025, the Netherlands returned 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. Despite these efforts, the British Museum has not yet returned any of its Benin Bronzes. The issue of ownership remains contentious, with debates about whether the artifacts should remain in their country of origin or be retained by the institutions that currently hold them. In 2025, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston returned two Benin Bronzes to Oba Ewuare II, the current Oba of Benin and custodian of Benin culture. A full catalog of looted artifacts can be found on the Digital Benin project website.