Edo Bronze Figure of a Rooster

At the court of Benin, a rooster was not just a rooster. Cast cockerels are closely associated with altars dedicated to the Queen Mother, and the royal guild of brass casters is celebrated for its lost-wax work.

This bronze bird was made by the Edo peoples in Nigeria, late 19th or early 20th century. He strides on long legs above a rectangular plinth bordered by an interlaced guilloche. Body and fanned tail are densely engraved with fine feather markings. The comb is serrated, the beak sharp, the wattle rounded. Twenty inches tall, deep brown, with traces of green in the incised detail.

He will outcrow the console. Let him.