19th century AD or earlier. A substantial bronze wall plaque with three standing figures modelled in the half-round, each wearing a braided hairstyle with feather, ribbed collar, sash to one shoulder and chain to the other, tunic with cummerbund and elaborate fastening, short legs with ankle-cuffs, hands raised to the chest holding the end of a chain and striking a bird-shaped idiophone; textured field with floral detailing, lateral lip; after the antique. Cf. Barley, N. The Art of Benin, London, 2010, p.89. 12.7 kg, 53cm (21").Property of a Surrey professional since before 1960, from his family collection by descent; received as a royal gift by his grandfather during one of his official trips to Benin in the late 19th century. The figures depict chiefs (denoted by the feathered hairstyle) beating idiophones in the form of ahianmwen-oro 'birds of prophecy' in the Ugie Oro court ceremony. The idiophones are hand-held musical instruments which are struck in the ceremony at Ugie Oro court ceremonies, regarded as a sign that the kings of Benin were endowed with the power over time. The holder uses a metal rod to strike the bird's long curved beak. Fine condition, cracked, some minor losses to edges.