Antique Benin Bronze Leopard Pair Male Female Couple Start Price USD 22,786.00 Current Price USD 22,786.00 Time Left 20 days 2 hours 35 minutes Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Tuesday, September 23, 2008 End Time Monday, December 22, 2008 Location Miami Lakes, FL See more about 'Antique Benin Bronze Leopard Pair Male Female Couple' Description Antique Male & Female Couple of Royal Benin Leopards This is an amazing pair of bronze antique leopards.  They were created for King Oba and are part of his Royal Alter.  Their is detailed information about Antique Bronzes from Benin below.  They are worth a tremendous amount of money for the real old antique peices like this pair.  This is one of the most gorgeous African Art pieces I have in my collection.  The pair together stands over 11 ft across and the details are amazing. We estimate the retail value of this pair to be between $170,000 to $250,000 USD and will probably sell for that amount in Christy's or Sotheby's Auction.  The dimensions of the larger male leopard are:  H 33 x 62 x 11 & the Female Leopard are:  H 29 x 60 x 10.  This African Art peice is a great investment at this time as value in Art is consistently beating Wall Street and Property investments.  African Art has increased in value significantly over the past 20 years and it is always a sound investment.  The African Province of Benin does not allow the export of such items, and this is something that will definitely be worth a tremendous amount of money.  I will send more pictures if you provide an email address. This peice is part of a liquidation estate sale.  We are selling our entire collection of fine furniture, art, antiques and collectibles.  We have collected art and antiques for over 30 years and have unique items from around the world.  We will help with packing, delivery, installation and care.  Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.  Please email me for a quote on shipping. BENIN BRONZE LEOPARDS Sacred or guardian leopards were considered the property of the king or OBA, who, it was believed, could change himself into a leopard. The brass casters historically worked primarily for the monarchy, with smaller pieces being made available to chiefs with his permission. The bronze leopards would be prominently displayed throughout the palace with two huge “Guardian” leopards either side of the throne. Some pieces were made for the alters with hinged jaws to hold offerings.Benin bronze castings are all made by the lost wax technique, which produces one-of-a-kind pieces. A basic core of clay is covered with wax, which is then carved into the exact shape the artist wants in the finished piece. "Pipelines" are inserted to allow the wax to drain and gases to escape. The wax mould is then covered with a layer of fine clay and then with succeeding layers of clay, each coarser than the previous one.The piece is then heated which melts the wax and shapes the clay into a solid mold. The hollow space is then filled with molten brass or bronze. After the piece has cooled, the clay mold is broken away revealing the finished metal piece. The finishing and polishing process now begins. This is the stage where the true artistry emerges. It is a long and painstaking process, but well worth the final result. . This form of art has been in existence in Benin since the 15th or 16th century. The extraordinary bronzes of the Benin kingdom in what is now Nigeria exhibit a virtuosity and sophistication of style that has astonished the Western world since they were visited in the 15th Century. Their work was brought to Europe following a punitive expedition by the British in 1897, causing a great sensation. The people of Benin, called Bini, are descended from the Ife, also known for their remarkable bronzes. Almost all Benin art was created to honor the king , or Oba, who has reigned, with his ancestors, from the 15th century. Styles have changed over the years.  Each is still sculpted by hand, then cast in bronze by the lost wax process. Bronze Leopards, a royal icon, were often used as royal water vessels. Water was poured from the mouth over the Oba's hands in cleansing rituals. They were kept on royal altars.   TRIBAL AFRICAN ART BENIN style Nigeria The powerful ancient Benin kingdom was founded by the son of an Ife king in the early 14th century AD. It was situated in the forest area of southern Nigeria, 106 miles southeast of Ife. The art of bronze casting was introduced around the year 1280. The kingdom reached its maximum size and artistic splendor in the 15th and 16th century. For a long time the Benin bronze sculptures were the only historical evidence dating back several centuries into the West African past, and both the level of technical accomplishment attained in bronze casting, as well as the monumental vigor of the figures represented, were the object of great admiration. Benin bronzes are better known than the artworks from Ife or Owo due to their presence in Western museums since 1890s. In the thirteenth century, the city of   Benin was an agglomeration of farms enclosed by walls and a ditch. Each clan was subject to the oba (king). The “Benin style” is a court art from the palace of the oba, and has nothing in common with tribal art. The Benin oba employed a guild of artisans who all lived in the same district of the city. Bronze figures ordered by the king were kept in the palace. The empire flourished until 1897, when the palace was sacked by the English in reprisal for an ambush that had cost the British vice-consul his life. The numerous commemorative brass heads, free-standing figures and groups, plaques in relief, bells and rattle-staffs, small expressive masks and plaquettes worn on the belt as emblem of offices; chests in the shape of palaces, animals, cult stands, jewelry, etc. cast by Benin metalworkers were created for the royal palace. The heads were placed on the altars of kings, of brass caster corporation chiefs and dignitaries. Occasionally, a brass head was surmounted by a procession of different obas. The altar functioned as a tribute to the deceased and a point of contact with his spirit. Using the bells and rattle stuffs to call the ancestor’s spirit, the oba offered sacrifices to him and to the earth on the altar. The majority of figures represented court officials, equestrian figures, queens, and roosters. Of objects in bronze: most elaborately decorated human masks, animals, beakers, spoons, gongs, trumpets, arm ornaments with bands in figured relief. The representations of these objects served above all to exalt the king, the queen mother, the princes and royal household, army commanders, shown with their arms and armor and their retainers (huntsmen, musicians), or alternatively depicted important events.  When British forces entered Benin City in 1897 they were surprised to find large quantities of cast brass objects. The technological sophistication and overwhelming naturalism of these pieces contradicted many 19th-century Western assumptions about Africa in general and Benin – regarded as the home of ‘fetish’ and human sacrifice – in particular. Explanations were swiftly generated to cover the epistemological embarrassment. The objects must, it was supposed, have been made by the Portuguese, the Ancient Egyptians, even the lost tribe of Israel. Subsequent research has tended to stress the indigenous origins of West African metallurgy. Yet it was the naturalism that proved decisive. Their status was marked by the establishment of the term ‘Benin bronzes’, despite their being largely of brass. Following the bloody British punitive expedition to Nigeria, about three thousand brass, bronze and wooden objects were consigned to the Western world. At that time, western scholars and artists were stunned by the quality and magnificence of these objects, more than 1,000 brass plaques were appropriated from the oba’s palace. Dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, these plaques were secreted in a storage room. It is thought that they were nailed to palace walls and pillars as a form of decoration or as references to protocol. They show the oba in full regalia along with his nobility, warriors and Portuguese traders. The most elaborate ones display a procession of up to nine people, while others depict only fish or birds. The majority of everyday Benin objects were made for and associated with court ceremonies. The figures of a leopard were the sole property of the oba – the leopard was the royal animal. Pectorals, hip and waist ornaments in the shape of human or animal heads were worn either by the oba or by major dignitaries. Brass staffs and clippers surmounted by birds appeared during commemorating ceremonies. Despite the disappearance of the Benin kingdom, the Yoruba people living on its territory continued to produce artwork inspired by the great royal art of Benin. Place a Bid!