DESCRIPTION OF PLATE XLV.

Fig. 346.--Quadrangular bronze bell, ornamented with mud-fish and a

human head in relief. It is reticulated on all sides and could have

emitted no sound.

Fig. 347.--Quadrangular bronze bell, ornamented on one side by a

degenerate human face in relief. The ornamentation tastefully designed.

Fig. 348.--Bronze cock, somewhat similar to Fig. 301, Plate XL.

Fig. 349.--Brass armlet, made from one piece of thin metal, joined by

copper rivets. Ornamented by three naked human figures in relief, and

bands of interlaced rings.

Figs. 350 and 351.--Bronze trumpet, slightly curved, the mouth-hole on

the convex side, similar in form to the ivory trumpets, Figs. 178, 192

and 193. Projecting blades, like celts, on the large end, as in the

sistrum in Figs. 232 to 234, Plate XXXI. A somewhat similar instrument

is figured by Mr. Ling Roth in the "Halifax Naturalist," June, 1898,

p. 32. Above these blades is a human head in relief, surmounted by a

circular ring held in the mouth of a crocodile, head downwards. Other

parts are ornamented by sinuous snakes in relief. It appears to have

been used both as trumpet and axe.

Figs. 352 and 353.--Bronze staff, probably intended to be held in the

middle. Ornamented at both ends with human figures back to back. The

stem ornamented with loops as in Figs. 208 and 209, Plate XXIX.

Figs. 354 and 355.--Bronze staff, 4 feet 10-1/2 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.

Antique Works of Art from Benin Collected by Lieutenant-General Pitt Rivers · 第 50 / 56 题