Baroness Floella Benjamin (b.1949), DBE, DL
Entry ID
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132 (21/02/2022)
Formal title of the work
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Baroness Floella Benjamin (b.1949), DBE, DL
Description of the sculpture
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Bronze portrait bust of Baroness Floella Benjamin, DBE, DL. She is depicted with her hair pulled back in an ‘up do’, wearing a heart-shaped pendant around her neck and a ruffled, V-neck blouse. She is sculpted without shoulders and upper arms but her lower arms and clasped hands are depicted in front of her chest. The sculpture is displayed on a metal plinth.
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The sculpture of Baroness Benjamin captures the way she appeared as she greeted each student at graduation ceremonies.
URLs where this is recorded/available
Type of object
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Bust – Portrait
Base
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Base present - appears to be the original base
Dimensions
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Height (excluding plinth): 68 cm
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Width (excluding plinth): 40 cm
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Depth (excluding plinth): 40 cm
Materials
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Bronze
Specific techniques used
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Casting
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Patination
Overall colour
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Monochrome – brown
Inscriptions
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Reverse, base: 'SHEPHERD / 1/9 2017'
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Reverse, across shoulders: 'Baroness Floella Benjamin OBE DL'
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Plaque attached to front of steel plinth: 'Baroness Floella Benjamin / OBE DL Hon. DLitt / Chancellor, University of Exeter 2006 - 2016 / CONSIDERATION / Put yourself in the place of others and show empathy and respect. / Never be judgmental. / CONTENTMENT / Don't be jealous and envious, but be satisfied with what you have. / That way you are open and ready to receive what's right for you. / CONFIDENCE / Be a decent human being, feel worth and like the person you are. / Give and love unconditionally and more will come back to you. / Floella Benjamin (signature) / Luke Shepherd / Sculptor 2016
Does the Black person have a specific identity?
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Identifiable: specific individual
Identity of Black person (real or fictive)
Role within sculpture
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Main protagonist
Gender
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Female
Age
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Adult
Status
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Free citizen
Clothing
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Wearing clothes – European/Western clothing
Evidence of enslavement
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None
Evidence of 'exotic' status
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None
Action or activity
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Other
Emotional state
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Happy
Focus of gaze of Black person
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Looking outwards (engaging viewer)
Sculptural context
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No location included/implied
Sculptor
Place of production
Period of production
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Twenty-first century (2000 -2099)
Date of Production
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2017
Date inferred from
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Recorded in inscription
Original purpose
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Commemorative
Original display setting
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Secular Civic: other
Current owner
Current / most recently known location
Accession number
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FAC 03548
Provenance history
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2016: commissioned by the University of Exeter
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2017: installed/unveiled at the University of Exeter
Notes
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Inscription on base records it as casting number 1 of an edition of 9.
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This contemporary bronze sculpture of Baroness Floella Benjamin DBE, DL was commissioned by the University of Exeter to mark the completion of her tenure as Chancellor of the University of Exeter in 2016. It was unveiled in 2017 and is now on permanent display on the University grounds.
Current rights holder
License terms for reuse
http://13.41.147.145/s/database/item/1092, . (no date) ‘Baroness Floella Benjamin (b.1949), DBE, DL’, Black People in European Sculpture, accessed May 5, 2025, http://13.41.147.145/s/database/item/1095
