Asan erre
Asan erre are a type of staff of office, cast in brass, with a long, thin metal blade at the bottom and ornate decoration incorporating motifs and figures of members of the royal court. It is believed that Asan erre were carried by representatives of the royal court when on official business ( ; ). Barbara Blackmun ( ) suggested that the figures topping such staffs were a way of indicating who had sent the representatives and validating their role "between Benin's non-literate hierarchies." The blades of these staffs are sometimes decorated with Uban'ui motifs, which are found only on royal Benin objects, and these would have given further authority to the representative.
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