A BENIN BRONZE PLAQUE, of rectangular form, cast in high relief with two figures, each holding a gong in his left hand and a beater in his right, each wearing an elaborate dress, the cloth undergarment with incised cross-hatching, a leopard mask over the abdomen above a fringe of tassles with small bronze bells, egheghan nexere, long skirt, belukus, with incised bands of interlaced and other geometric ornament incorporating stylised ram's heads, each figure wearing leopard tooth necklace, akekpe, and quadrangular bell, eroro, a sword worn at the hip, the headdresses each composed of lattice of coral beads with plumes to each side, the stippled background with engraved quatrefoils, the flanges with incised interlaced ornament, extensive remains of laterite dust, pierced several times for attachment, split to lower left of plaque and part of one flange missing, circa 1600