WEST AFRICA. SOUTHERN NIGERIA. BENIN. BRONZES. PANEL. Bronze, with three figures in high relief. The central figure is dressed in a loin cloth and fringed and embroidered leopard skin, with chest-band and quadrangular bell, and wearing collar of leopard's teeth. His head-dress is overlaid with beads and displays two feathers. In his right hand he holds a sceptre and in his left a shield. On the background, which is diapered, are two diminutive figures, prob. representing Portuguese. Obtained at the capture of Benin City, February 1897. Wider World Gallery Label Text, 2001: Plaque. Nigeria. Benin. Early seventeenth century. This plaque shows a central figure who is an oba (king) or chief, flanked by two attendants and would probably have hung on the palace wall at the court in Benin. The oba or chief holds a sceptre in his right hand, and a shield in his left. The two smaller figures in the background are Portuguese.