Edo Figural Group with Rulers & Mermaids

Fish below the waist, crown above it. In Benin, the sea and the throne were never entirely separate.

The Edo tell of Olokun, god of the sea, and of the Oba, whose power reached across land and water alike. Hence the mudfish legs. Here, two standing figures in regalia face each other atop a column, each holding an object. Three figures sit around its base, their lower bodies splitting into fish tails across a domed foundation worked with fish in relief. Bronze, 20th century, fourteen inches tall, an even dark brown.

Court business, conducted at the waterline.