Recade Fon, Benin Royal Recade. The openwork... Lot 27

Recade Fon, Benin Royal Recade. The openwork metal blade ends with a lion striking a man. The hilt guard is decorated with two windings. The recades are parade weapons, which, through their iconography, depict a precise fact of the life of their owner. It is an intimate and personal object which, after his death, is worth as an effigy of him. The most beautiful and refined come from the Fon in the Kingdom of Abomey. This one represents the fight of a man with a lion. The design is cut and incised into the end of the blade on both sides. Metal and patinated wood. 60.5 x 14.5 cm.