I am excited to be offering two fantastic Fon sokpo récades which were most likely made by the renowned Hountondji family guild based on their styles and after conferring with experts.

The Hountondji family guild, whose members included blacksmiths and jewelers originally worked exclusively for the royal court making metal sculptures and decorative arts of striking originality and beauty. What is less widely known about this famous guild is that the founding family was originally part of the slave trade in Dahomey in the 19th century. Suzanne Preston-Blier wrote that the family demonstrated their ability to craft beautiful objects out of metal and were subsequently given a platform to create objects for the royal court. The family made such a significant impact and change on the art production of the Fon, even though they were not Fon themselves, that they had a city quarter named after them. Such was their demand that their family head, Kpahissou was given a prestigious royal title due to his followers' ability to make any item both local and foreign.

On this page I am showing both examples so people can get an idea of them together, but I have separate pages for each of them with additional pictures and information.

Click/tap here to see the example with the bird with a fish in its mouth on the backside of the récade.

Click/tap here to see the example with the buffalo on the backside of the récade.

Click/Tap on any image below to bring up the image viewer.