Dec. 23 (UPI) — German officials have handed over 20 artifacts known as Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, marking a major restitution of art that could lead to further restitution by other countries.
The restitution of the artifacts was announced in a news release by the German Foreign Office, which returned the historic objects in a ceremony held in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Kingdom of Benin, which has no connection to the modern country of Benin, is now the Edo state in Nigeria.
The Benin Bronzes were largely looted by the British colonial military forces during a punitive campaign against Benin City in 1897, led by British Navy forces and members of the Niger Coast Protectorate.
Britain’s Foreign Office acquired hundreds of the works after the raid and gave them to the British Museum, which now has more than 900 of them alone.
According to the Germain Foreign Office, around 1,100 of more than 5,000 known Benin Bronzes are in the possession of German museums.
Germany and Nigeria signed an agreement in July to transfer the ownership of all of the artifacts in German collections to the African nation.
“Not all bronzes in the collections of German museums will return to Nigeria immediately,” the German Foreign Office said in a statement in July after the agreement was signed.
“The Nigerian side has declared its willingness to leave some artifacts here on loan, so that they can continue to be exhibited in Germany. This is a very special gesture of trust and of amity between the two countries.”
The German agreement comes after the launch of a highly anticipated database called Digital Benin, a catalog of 5,246 historic Benin objects currently held in 131 institutions across 20 countries.
Some world leaders have already made moves to provide restitution to Nigeria and other African nations for the looted art.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in a speech in Burkina Faso that he wanted, within five years, to meet conditions “for the temporary or permanent restitution of African heritage to Africa.”
“I cannot accept that a large part of cultural heritage from several African countries is in France,” he said at the time.
However, some in the United States have called the transfer of Benin Bronzes held by the Smithsonian to Nigeria “illegal.”
Apart from the Benin Bronzes, Western art institutions and governments have recently increased their efforts to repatriate works taken or looted from other countries.
The British Museum is in advanced stages of talks to return the contested Parthenon marbles in its collection to Greece, which would end a decades-long dispute between the two nations, it was reported earlier this month.