May be the "Triumph-Scheuerpulver- Blitzblank" from 1940 to clean"copper" and other materials were used to" restore" this sculpture in a German Museum. Like many other cleansers and soap products, "Negroes" were used as advertisers. Both together seem to be a double form of irony and racism. .

Nothing is left of the original condition of this famous Benin sculpture. This is not just a matter of aesthetics, since patina, in conjunction with other analysis methods, can provide important information about age and finding relationships. If one asks about the history - called provenance - of a cultural object, it has often been museums that have suppressed or extinguished important historical informations. An exhibition as important as the one quoted above, should have written about these facts. But the fact is that current Benin and Ife research and science are unable to reflect on their own history. Let alone seriously deal with what is currently - in whatever way - comes to light.

Dr. Junker in wolfgang-jaenicke.blogspot.com