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Leopard skull

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Animal sacrifices were an integral part of the rituals at the altars in Benin. Among the most prominent sacrifices were leopards, which were only sacrificed by the king himself. Leopards not only metaphorically symbolised the king's power, the king himself was seen as a leopard. It was the "leopard of the palace" and thus the counterpart to the most powerful animal of nature, the wilderness that surrounded civilisation, and leopard skulls cast in brass immortalised the offering of a living leopard.

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Data Provider
Ethnologisches Museum Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Object type
Animal sculpture
Dimensions
Height: 7,3 cm
Depth: 11,6 cm
Width: 19,8 cm
Material/Technique
Brass, copper alloy
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
III C 19208

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    where
    Benin [kingdom]
  • Production
    when
    18th century - 19th century
    where
    Nigeria
    Benin
  • Collecting
    who
    Paul Bieger - Former Possessors
    Hermann Held - Collectors
  • Change of legal title:
    Acquisition
    Description
    Commissioned by the Igun Eronmwon or Guild of Brass Casters in the Kingdom of Benin; ownership before 1897 currently unknown; probably looted in connection with the British conquest of Benin, 1897; owned by Hermann Held before 1905; sold to the Royal Museum of Ethnology in Berlin, 1905.
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    Africa

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
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