The Museum of Fine Arts Boston has returned two Benin Bronzes—a 16th/17th-century terracotta and iron Commemorative Head and a 16th-century bronze Relief Plaque—to the Kingdom of Benin. The works were looted by British soldiers during the 1897 attack on Benin City, later acquired by collector Robert Owen Lehman Jr., and donated to the MFA in 2013 and 2018. The repatriation ceremony took place on June 27 at Nigeria House in New York, with the items handed over to Prince Aghatise Erediauwa and Ambassador Samson Itegboje. The MFA closed its Benin Kingdom Gallery in April and noted that three other Benin works donated by Lehman remain in its collection pending further provenance research.
This return matters because it continues the global reckoning with colonial-era looting, particularly of Benin Bronzes, which are among the most iconic symbols of cultural restitution. The MFA’s action follows similar moves by other major institutions, reinforcing pressure on museums to address the provenance of African artifacts acquired through violence. The case also highlights the role of private collectors like Lehman in both preserving and complicating the return of cultural heritage, and underscores the ongoing challenges of tracing provenance for objects that passed through multiple hands over a century.