The composition of this unusual bracelet or upper arm adornment is made from a fine thin sheeting of white metal, centrally surmounted with the depiction of a leopard's head, which is in turn flanked by two beautiful, vividly red, cone-shaped glass beads. A very finely linked locally made chain with attached European coin pendants features a clasp at the end, to fasten the bracelet to the wrist of the wearer.
Representations of leopards in Fon art pertain to the ancestral beginnings of the dynasty - as told in the myth of the divine leopard king of Dahomey, Agasu - and refer to the royal kings, who embody the strength of the leopard.
H (Incl. Stand): 11cm
W: 9cm
Estimated Period: Early 20th Century
Ex Private Collection, Switzerland
(Click on images to enlarge)
