Edo Standing Female Court Attendant Holding a Decree

One arm up, and in that hand, the matter at issue.

This standing female court attendant holding a decree is Edo, or Benin, work from West Africa, and it dates to the early 20th century. It is bronze. Benin's guild of casters has served its royal court for centuries, in a tradition still widely admired. The figure lifts a flat rectangular tablet in one raised hand. A netted cap and long braids frame a calm face, with crossed bands on the chest, a lattice-patterned skirt and heavy coils at the ankles. Twenty-seven and a quarter inches high.

She is holding the paperwork. She is unlikely to be argued with.