Benin, a country in West Africa, has blocked the sale of a royal artifact that was stolen by French forces over 100 years ago. The item, a traditional wooden scepter called a “recade,” was supposed to be auctioned off in Paris last Friday, but it was taken off the sale list just before the auction began.
This artifact originally belonged to King Behanzin, the last ruler of the Kingdom of Dahomey (now called Benin). The recade is an important symbol of royal power, representing the king’s authority. It had been taken by the French during their colonial rule over Dahomey, which lasted from the late 1800s until the country gained independence in 1960.
The auction was set to take place at the prestigious Hotel Drouot in Paris, but Benin's government stepped in and requested that the scepter be removed from the auction. The French Ministry of Culture then instructed the Millon auction house to pull the item from the list. Despite this, the auction house said the recade was still ...
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