13804. Oblong fur disc ,applied ornaments of red cotton fabric. Hair trim spotted. Sewn to wooden handle, which is stitched with leather. "... leatherworkers, who used to have their own ward. The fans ... are of cowskin or buckskin, decorated with shapes of red cloth, which is now bought in Lagos. The thread with which the cloth shapes are stitched to the fan is antelope skin. A hole is made with a spike before the stitching with the needle is done. the leatherworker uses scissors, which, he says, he has always had and, therefore, may have had them since the time of the first Portuguese contacts with Benin. The wooden handle, which is covered with skin, the craftsman fashions himself with an adze. (Dark 22). LIT Dark 1962: The Art of Benin. Chicago