Great Head Ife - Benin (No reserve price)

The Kingdom of Benin City, in southern Nigeria, was one of the most powerful empires in Africa. The royal city is believed to have been founded by a prince from the neighboring city of Ifé around the 13th century, before encounters with Portuguese colonizers from the 15th century, followed by trade exchanges and attempts at Christianization. Benin City was eventually sacked by the English in 1897. The king of Benin was the Oba, who was glorified through a highly developed court art, including these carved leopards made using the lost-wax casting technique in bronze (brass composed of copper and lead), which are among the most iconic elements. The leopard symbolically held the same place among animals as the Oba did among his subjects. The Kingdom of Benin is also renowned for its bronze heads of Oba, court dwarf sculptures, European soldier figures, carved ivory tusks, and especially the bronze plaques that decorated the Oba’s palace.