Olowe's images of the British Captain Ambrose (see pp. 755 and 758) may be compared to earlier images of Europeans in the court art of Benin, where the Portuguese had been granted trading concessions in the late fifteenth century. Portuguese soldiers who had served the oba or king of Benin in campaigns against the neighbouring states were shown with their muskets and cross-bows in brass statuettes and plaques incorporated in the decoration of the royal palace. Bearded faces of Portuguese form the crown of an ivory mask probably carved to be worn on the hip of the oba in commemorative rites for his mother, who had witnessed the first arrival of Europeans (12.29). Such images indicated the power of the ruling family.