Nigerians offer artworks to British Museum in new take on looted bronzes

A newly made bronze plaque depicting historical events in West Africa's once mighty Kingdom of Benin, which is being offered as a gift to the British Museum, is seen on display in Benin City, Nigeria, July 31, 2021. REUTERS/Tife Owolabi

BENIN CITY, Nigeria (Reuters) - A new guild of artists from Nigeria's Benin City has offered to donate artworks to the British Museum in London as a way to encourage it to return the priceless Benin Bronzes that were looted from the city's royal court by British troops in 1897.

Created in the once mighty Kingdom of Benin from at least the 16th century onwards, the bronze and brass sculptures are among Africa's finest and most culturally significant artefacts. European museums that house them have faced years of criticism because of their status as loot and symbols of colonial greed.