Manilla Mould from Birdall's Foundry, Cowick Street
Manilla mould from Cowick Street dated to the 1500s
From the collections at RAMM, Accession No. 41/2005/5/1
This manilla was Cast in Nigeria.
From the collections at RAMM (World Cultures)
A Benin bronze head from the 1800s. This represents a divine king of the Benin.
From the collection at RAMM (World Cultures). Accession No. 202/1915
Location of Birdalls Foundry, Cowick Street
Trade links with West Africa, and the Benin Bronzes
By Naome, RAMM Development Officer, with RAMM curators
Manillas are semi-circular bronze bands which look like open bracelets. These were used as currency and raw material in West Africa for about 900 years. In that area copper, the main ingredient in bronze, was more highly valued than gold.
To start with manillas were made and traded only within Africa. However, European traders capitalised on this important commodity and began producing and exporting manillas from Europe. Demand was huge. In 1513 one West African port received over 94 tons of manillas!
European manillas were cheaply produced. They were traded with West Africa for luxury goods including ivory and gold. They were also used to buy people, as part of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Earliest evidence from Birdall foundry, Cowick Street
This clay manilla mould was discovered by archaeologists working in Cowick Street, Exeter. The excavation took place on the site of the Birdall foundry, which also made bells and cauldrons.
It has long been known that foundries in Bristol and Birmingham made manillas for export in the 1700 and 1800s. However, the Cowick Street mould is dated to the 1500s, making it the earliest evidence for the production of manillas in Britain.
Benin Bronzes
Finely crafted bronze sculptures were made in the city-state of Benin (in modern Nigeria) from about 1500. A tradition of highly skilled metalworking existed in West Africa long before any European contact. Research done by the British Museum shows that some of the famous Benin heads, made at a later date, include metal from imported European manillas. A spectacular example of a Benin Bronze head now forms part of RAMM's World Cultures collection.
Black, Red & Gold: Metals in Africa
Find out more about African metalwork in the collections at RAMM on the museum's MOLLI website: African metalwork
1807 abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
In 2007 artist and curator Raimi Gbadamosi was invited to work on an exhibition about the 1807 Act of Parliament, which brought about the abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The links between enslaving young people and the objects shown here was one of the things which he confronted. In August, Dr Gbadamosi spoke at the RAMM about the sensitivities of this process. This was a joint project between RAMM and the Plymouth Museum.