A dealer is struggling to sell this beautiful Benin Bronze leopard. He bought it for +500,000 Euros, 2014. He says it was taken by the British in 1897. We’ve heard a lot (!) on looted Bronzes in Western museums/restitution. A🧵on those in private hands. 1/10
Dealer says leopard (42cms long & tall) c 1600 AD ‘or earlier’ of ‘extraordinary rarity’ (although he knows a similar one in a different private collection). But he can’t sell it. He says collectors are ‘concerned this is an asset that is going to diminish’. Is this a trend? 2/10