Couple of royal panthers local shipping only
Pair of bronze leopards, Benin Kingdom (Edo State, Nigeria)
Convinced that they came from the nobility of Ile Ife, the mythical Yoruba city, the first obas (kings) of the kingdom of Benin (14th and 15th centuries) surrounded themselves with foundries and other artisans from that town. Bronze and brass, two very durable alloys, easy to cast, although quite scarce in the region, thus became those materials that allowed the country's feats to be perpetuated, but that only royalty could afford.
The newly arrived Portuguese found in that bronze and brass the perfect coins with which to pay for gold, ivory and other raw materials that they then resold in Europe (the massive slave trade would arrive somewhat later), thus obtaining extraordinary dividends. ...And from that moment on the walls of the royal palace of Benin were covered with alloy plates on which their own exploits and epics were told.
The rooms of the royal residences also ended up being filled with altars decorated with equestrian figures of kings, portraits of queens, roosters representing the young nobility and leopards.
Leopards symbolized the fierceness of royal power, ritual fidelity and loyalty of the nobility, and were common figures in royal tombs and in the palaces of the queen mother, the crown prince and, of course, the reigning monarch.
The pair of bronze leopards on display at Black Market represents a male and a female of that species. The male keeps his tail raised on his back, leaving his testicles visible; the female, on the contrary, carries it backwards, in a more natural position. Both figures appear alert and have several rows of ocelli on their backs and sides.
Material: Bronze
Male – Height: 51.0 cm; Length: 50.0 cm; Weight: 12.48 Kg
Female – Height: 51.0 cm; Length: 68.0 cm; Weight: 10.22 Kg
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