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CAST-METAL WORK FROM BENIN. 65 
of Kings of Benin. This may or may not be correct. Still, in 1862, when 
Burton was in Benin City, I find that he has recorded, in regard to the Fetish- 
house attached to his host’s dwelling (which, he says, had once been a fine 
building, but whose roof had then fallen in), that its most remarkable feature 
was “a high altar conspicuous for the statues of the reigning King and Queen.” 
These figures were probably of clay, like those made by the Fantee women, 
“who, upon the death of a great man, made representations of him sitting in 
state, with his wives and attendants seated around him. They are simply 
monuments to their memory, like the statues of our own great men . : 
they remain till they crumble to pieces” (Brodie Cruickshank). None of our 
statuettes, however, will fit the description of these Ganesa-like Majesties, as 
Burton calls them. 
The second (Fig. 11) of the quartette, (Register number: 7.10.97.2) closely 
resembles the first ; but differs in the helmet having a shorter spike, and in 
its having two elaborate sheaths (Fig. 11, }) before and behind, for the 
reception of the ends of the spirally twisted loop, showing that this extra- 
ordinary appendage is not merely a handle to the figure, as I was inclined 
at first to suppose, but is really a portion of the head gear. The goblet 
in his left hand (Fig. 11, a) has also a shorter handle, and is less care- 
fully modelled ; the human figure upon it appearing only on the front, 
and, although in more prominent relief, its details are less elaborately 
wrought. The robe is embellished with three rows of embroidery, whose 
“‘sennit” pattern forcibly recalls the ornamentation seen on Anglo-Saxon 
buckles in the Bryan Faussett collection in the Museum. The termination 
of the dress, behind and above the hip-knot, here more resembles a metal 
plate than its arrangement in Fig. 10. The face, which shows no tattoo 
or tribal marks, has been chiselled and polished with great care. 
The total height of this statuette is 595 mm.; and its circumference 
round the hem of the dress, 340. 
The next (Fig. 12) of the series (Register number: 7.10.97.3) differs from 
the others only in details of its intricate ornamentation. The coral-bead 
dress has a small bell hanging down in front. The termination of the robe, 
behind the left arm, here resembles a disk of braided cord, with its margin 
strengthened by coral beads. The ‘flowering’ on the robe shows the same 
patterns asin Fig. 10. namely, bearded human heads and fish-slicers, but in 
the present instance they are less conventionalised. The tattoo marks on the 
face consist of lines down the forehead over the inner corner of the eyes, with- 
out the wart-like scars over the outer corner seen in most of the others. The 
total height of the statue is 648 mm. 
The last of the quartette (Register number: 7.10.97.4) represented, like 
the others, by three views (Fig. 13), has the loop over the head beautifully 
chased. The projecting wart-like tribal marks over the outer corner of the 
eyes are present, but the two lines over their inner angles are absent. The 
height of this figure is 680 mm. ; and its circumference round the lower edge 
_ of the robe, 395. 
The above short account we have given of these castings, and an inspection 
of the accompanying illustrations, must have raised in the reader's mind the 
questions : If these are the works of the Benin people, whence did they derive 
