COURT RECEPTACLE in the shape of a catfish symbolically biti - Lot 255

COURT RECEPTACLE in the shape of a catfish symbolically biting its own tail. This scene illustrates an ancestral proverb describing a voracious monarch (greedy for power and wealth), devouring his own body to satisfy his hunger. The mouth is oversized, showing a powerful set of teeth in reference to the insatiability and ferocity of this mad king. The fish's scales are meticulously incised and enriched with hatched symbols. Old lost-wax cast bronze, one small firing crack on the lid (original lid), old brown patina, marks of use. Art of Benin, Kingdom of Benin, 19th century. 26x19.5x10cm. Provenance: former Roland Hartmann Zurich collection (former Swiss antiquarian book expert), acquired between 1960 and 1980 from René David (founder of Galerie Walu).