Editing Dahomey (section)

==Arts==
[[File:Homme-requin Dahomey.jpg|thumbnail|Zoomorphic representation of Béhanzin as a shark]]
The arts in Dahomey were unique and distinct from the [[African art|artistic traditions]] elsewhere in Africa.  The arts were substantially supported by the king and his family, had non-religious traditions, assembled multiple different materials, and borrowed widely from other peoples in the region.  Common art forms included wood and ivory carving, metalwork (including silver, iron and brass, [[appliqué]] cloth, and clay [[bas-reliefs]]).<ref name=Blier-1988 />

The king was key in supporting the arts and many of them provided significant sums for artists resulting in the unique development, for the region, of a non-religious artistic tradition in the kingdom.<ref name=Livingston />  Artists were not of a specific class but both royalty and commoners made important artistic contributions.<ref name=Blier-1988>{{cite journal|last=Blier|first=Suzanne Preston|title=Melville J. Herskovits and the Arts of Ancient Dahomey|journal=Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics|year=1988|volume=16|pages=125–142|doi=10.1086/RESv16n1ms20166806|s2cid=190236987}}</ref>  Kings were often depicted in large [[Zoomorphism|zoomorphic]] forms with each king resembling a particular animal in multiple representations.<ref name="Pique & Rainer" />

Suzanne Blier identifies two unique aspects of art in Dahomey: [[Assemblage (art)|Assemblage]] of different components and borrowing from other states.  Assemblage of art, involving the combination of multiple components (often of different materials) combined in a single piece of art, was common in all forms and was the result of the various kings promoting finished products rather than particular styles.<ref name=Blier-1988 />  This assembling may have been a result of the second feature, which involved the wide borrowing of styles and techniques from other cultures and states. Clothing, cloth work, architecture, and the other forms of art all resemble other artistic representation from around the region.<ref name=Blier-2004>{{cite journal|last=Blier|first=Suzanne Preston|title=The Art of Assemblage: Aesthetic Expression and Social Experience in Danhome|journal=Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics|year=2004|volume=45 |issue=45|pages=186–210|doi=10.1086/RESv45n1ms20167627|s2cid=193597512}}</ref>

Much of the artwork revolved around the royalty.  Each of the palaces at the [[Royal Palaces of Abomey]] contained elaborate [[Relief|bas-reliefs]] (''noundidė'' in Fon) providing a record of the king's accomplishments.<ref name="Pique & Rainer">{{cite book|title=Palace Sculptures of Abomey: History Told on Walls|year=1999|publisher=Paul Getty Museum|location=Los Angeles|url=https://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/palace_abomey.html|author=Pique, Francesca|author2=Rainer, Leslie H.}}</ref>  Each king had his own palace within the palace complex and within the outer walls of their personal palace was a series of clay reliefs designed specific to that king.  These were not solely designed for royalty and chiefs, temples, and other important buildings had similar reliefs.<ref name=Livingston>{{cite journal|last=Livingston|first=Thomas W.|title=Ashanti and Dahomean Architectural Bas-Reliefs|journal=African Studies Review |year=1974|volume=17|issue=2|pages=435–448|doi=10.2307/523643|jstor=523643|s2cid=144030511 }}</ref> The reliefs would present Dahomey kings often in military battles against the Oyo or [[Mahi people|Mahi]] tribes to the north of Dahomey with their opponents depicted in various negative depictions (the king of Oyo is depicted in one as a baboon eating a cob of corn).  Historical themes dominated representation and characters were basically designed and often assembled on top of each other or in close proximity creating an ensemble effect.<ref name=Livingston />  In addition to the royal depictions in the reliefs, royal members were depicted in power sculptures known as ''bocio'', which incorporated mixed materials (including metal, wood, beads, cloth, fur, feathers, and bone) onto a base forming a standing figure.  The bocio are religiously designed to include different forces together to unlock powerful forces.<ref name=Blier-2004 />  In addition, the cloth [[appliqué]] of Dahomey depicted royalty often in similar zoomorphic representation and dealt with matters similar to the reliefs, often the kings leading during warfare.<ref name=Livingston />

Dahomey had a distinctive tradition of casting small brass figures of animals or people, which were worn as jewellery or displayed in the homes of the relatively well-off. These figures, which continue to be made for the tourist trade, were relatively unusual in traditional African art in having no religious aspect, being purely decorative, as well as indicative of some wealth.<ref>{{cite book|last=Willett|first=Frank|title=African Art|year=1971|publisher=Thames & Hudson|location=New York|isbn=978-0-5002-0364-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/africanart00will/page/164 164–165]|url=https://archive.org/details/africanart00will/page/164}}</ref>  Also unusual, by being so early and clearly [[provenance]]d, is a carved wooden tray (not dissimilar to much more recent examples) in [[Ulm]], Germany, which was brought to Europe before 1659, when it was described in a printed catalogue.<ref>Willett, 81–82</ref>

Wheeled [[carriages]] were used in Dahomey after their introduction into the region of modern Benin in the late 17th century.<ref name="Law wheel"/><ref name="Alpern Road">{{cite journal | last=Alpern|first= Stanley B. | title=Dahomey's Royal Road | journal=History in Africa| volume=26 | pages=11–24| year=1999 | jstor=3172135| doi=10.2307/3172135 |s2cid= 161238713 }}</ref> Some carriages were manufactured indigenously while most were obtained as gifts from European allies. The carriages were often used for ceremonial purposes and were drawn mostly by men due to the small number of horses in the state. Carriages in Dahomey came in varying sizes and shapes. Some were modelled after ships, elephants and horses. Burton noted that the road between Abomey and the town of Cana, which was about six to seven miles long, was regularly kept weeded for the convenience of the royal carriages.<ref name="Law wheel">{{cite journal | last=Law| first=Robin | title=Wheeled Transport in Pre-Colonial West Africa | journal=Journal of the International African Institute| volume=50 | issue=3 | pages=249–262| year=1980 | jstor=1159117| doi=10.2307/1159117 | s2cid=148903113 }}</ref>