Academic thesis

Magdalena Baur: A royal commemorative head from the former kingdom of Benin (now Nigeria) - Aspects of technology, restoration and the preservation of the collection Back
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Royal commemorative head
Abstract: This diploma thesis concerns the restoration and conservation of a royal commemorative head
from the former kingdom of Benin (now Nigeria), part of the “Benin-Collection” of the
Ethnological Museum Berlin, acquired in the 19th century. The royal commemorative head is
casted in brass with inlays of steel. A considered dry cleaning process was chosen to maintain
as far as possible the original state of the object. One provides a record of the cleaning process
of the commemorative head and conditions for its maintenance as well as for all metal objects
of the collection. Furthermore a detailed characterisation of the single object was made using
visual and chemical tests as well as physical tests: OSL, FTIR, radiography and x-ray CT.
Besides, this work provides a culture-historical overview of Benin art, pointing out the
symbolical meaning of the royal commemorative head.

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Details:
  • academic institution: Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin
  • kind of theses:  Diplomarbeit
  • main Tutor:  Prof. Dr. Matthias Knaut
  • assistant Tutor:  Kantzenbach (Ethnologisches Museum Berlin)
  • date:  2004
  • Language:  German
  • pages:  205
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