Relief plaque showing officials with raised swords. This plaque depicts two senior courtiers with ceremonial swords held aloft. These swords were used in special celebrations at court, when high-ranking men would send them twirling into the air and catch them before they fell to the ground. The figures on this plaque are wearing a wealth of coral beads, which can be seen in their crowns, high necklaces, bands crossing the chest, and anklets. The leopard-face ornaments cinching the men’s wrappers, on each man’s left hip, also point to the king’s power; the Benin king was often metaphorically compared to a leopard, a fast, powerful, and stealthy animal.