Ceremonial Fan

Description

Fans such as this were ceremonial objects that most likely would have been carried by the king. The Fon were part of the Dahomay Kingdom during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in which art served to legitimize and honor the monarchy. Much of the art was based on earlier Fon art forms, as the fan may have been. The most common materials for Dahomean art were brass, silver, wrought iron, wood and clay. Scepters and wands are examples of other royal art.