Figs. 354 and 355.—Bronze staff, 4 feet 10½ inches in length; ornamented at top with the figure of a bird with a small ball in its mouth, and apparently surmounting a leopard. Around it are ten leaf-shaped flanges ornamented with sinuous serpents, holding birds and crocodiles in their mouths. Below this is a human figure standing with very large hands, apparently clasped, and thumbs projecting upwards, out of all proportion to the size of the body; on the shoulders of this figure are two sinuous snakes. Below this are figures representing a monkey and a bull. The central figure is nude and kneeling with a cock in its hands, resting on a cluster of hanging bells. The lower part, which is broken and detached from the upper part, represents a human figure; in his left hand a large neolithic celt, and in his right hand a human-headed staff, similar in design to Figs. [279 and 280], Plate XXXVI. Below and in front of this figure are smaller figures, representing a human figure with a neolithic celt in the right hand and a spotted leopard, with tail curled over head, on the left. Rising from the head of the larger figure is an antelope, with two snakes springing out of its mouth, surrounded by representations of various weapons, points upwards. The whole appears to be constructed of bronze, surrounding an iron stem.
[DESCRIPTION OF PLATE XLVI.]
Figs. 356 and 357.—Bronze staff, surmounted by a vulture holding something in its beak, as in Figs. [286 to 288], Plate XXXVII; Fig. [271], Plate XXXV, and Figs. [354 and 355], Plate XLV. In Fig. [139], Plate XXIII, and in “Antiquities from Benin in the British Museum,” Plate XXIX, Fig. 3, figures are shown holding these staves and striking them with rods.
Figs. 358 and 359.—Bronze seated figure, apparently of an European. The dress has large buttons on one side. The hat, with brim, is ornamented with chevrons filled with parallel straight lines; the moustache very long; the nose aquiline and very large; the shoulders guarded by “wings.” Left hand and forearm broken.
Fig. 360.—Bronze or brass plaque, representing a figure standing to front, holding a piece of ring-money (Manilla) in right hand, similar to Plate XXI, Fig. 6, “Antiquities from Benin in the British Museum,” where their use and form are discussed (p. 27). The dress has a single row of buttons, somewhat similar to Fig. [247], Plate XXXII, where however the coat is fastened with tags; the left hand is similarly spread upon the chest. The face is prognathous, but with hooked nose. The hat appears to be an European chimney-pot hat. Other cases of a pleated kilt occur in Figs. [129], [235, 236], [247], [324, 325], and [361].