A Benin Bronze: The Panther and the Antelope

Behold this work of bronze, wherein no furious battle is displayed, nor any tempest of claw and horn, but rather that dread instant wherein Fate revealeth her countenance. The panther needeth not to spring, for victory hath already chosen her champion. The antelope yet standeth upright, her limbs unbroken, her breath unspent, yet in her visage dwelleth the knowledge that all hope hath fled.

 

Henri Rouseau, Fodation Beyeler , The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope, 1905 

Even as in the enchanted forests painted by Henri Rousseau, where the hungry lion casteth himself upon the trembling antelope, violence is not born of motion, but of necessity. The deed is accomplished ere the blow descendeth. What remaineth is but the silence that walketh before death.

Thus doth this bronze possess a strange and fearful majesty. Its terror lieth not in action, but in certainty.

Within the noble arts of Benin there be echoes of such conceit, though none repeat this very scene. Indeed, therein consisteth the marvel of this work. It standeth not as a copy of familiar invention, but as a singular voice uttering an ancient truth.

For the likeness is found not in the image of a panther pursuing an antelope, but in that eternal order whereby strength commandeth weakness, sovereignty subdueth submission, and the hunter ruleth over the hunted.

The panther—yea, the leopard of Benin—is no common beast, but the living shadow of the Oba himself. Within his sinews dwell courage, dominion, and that fearful authority before which all lesser creatures must bow. Oft is he shown alone, sufficient unto himself, the very emblem of kingship. Elsewhere he treadeth upon serpents, humbleth rival beasts, and reigneth undisputed over the wilderness.

The antelope beareth no such crown of meaning. She cometh before us as quarry, child of the forest, companion of the chase. Thus the balance is ordained before the eye beholdeth it. One creature commandeth; the other endureth.

Yet mark well wherein this bronze exceedeth the common manner. It showeth not the chase, nor the leap, nor the mortal wound. The antelope fleeth not. She striveth not. Resistance hath already departed from her spirit. The battle is unseen because it is already won.

Herein the work resembleth many royal plaques of Benin, wherein vanquished foes stand rigid before the conqueror. There likewise the stroke itself is hidden from our sight. Triumph is revealed not by violence, but by its consequence. Power needeth no gesture where certainty sufficeth.

Thus may this image be read not merely as the history of beasts, but as the very theatre of dominion itself.

Perchance it declareth the immutable law of Nature, whereby the mighty prevail over the frail.

Perchance it celebrateth the sacred majesty of kingship, embodied in the royal panther.

Perchance it speaketh of Destiny, from whose decree no mortal foot may flee.

Or perchance it standeth upon that fearful threshold where Life beholdeth Death before the final summons hath been uttered.

Of all these readings, the last seemeth most profound. For this bronze portrayeth not the triumph of the panther, but the awakening of the antelope unto her own inevitable end. In that silent recognition lieth the true tragedy. Here consciousness itself becometh the stage upon which Fate performeth her solemn office.

There is yet another kinship within the treasures of Benin. Consider the trophy heads of conquered enemies. Never is the battle shown; only the certainty of conquest endureth in bronze. So likewise may this noble company of beasts be understood. The panther hath conquered before the final stroke is given. The hunt is no longer the subject. Judgment hath already been pronounced.

And thus the bronze speaketh unto all ages: not of violence, but of inevitability; not of death, but of that terrible moment wherein the soul first perceiveth that death hath already laid her hand upon the shoulder.

Dimensions: 52 cm / 26 cm / 20 cm
Weight: 6,2 kg