Edo Relief Depicting Portuguese Soldier with 5 Manillas

Five manillas surround him. They are the reason he is here.

This cast bronze relief depicts a Portuguese soldier with 5 manillas. It was made in the 20th century by the Edo (Benin) peoples and is catalogued to Benin in West Africa. Plaques decorated the oba's palace in the Benin kingdom, recording rank and events, and often showed Portuguese visitors, who arrived in the late 15th century. Manillas, horseshoe-shaped metal rings, were a currency of that trade, which came to include enslaved people. The bearded figure wears a helmet and pleated skirt, holding a long staff and a sword. The edges are broken in places. Just over eighteen inches high and 14.75 wide.

An old subject that has not grown any lighter.