Artistic representation thumb|upright|Man-Shark by Sossa Dede (c. 1890), a Fon statue symbolizing Béhanzin, musée du quai Branly, Paris, France.Each of Dahomey's kings was represented in sculpture with images that referred to the proverbs, associations, and wordplay attached to his royal name. The images that symbolize Behanzin (or Gbehanzin) include an egg held by a hand, as the words for these in the Fon language form a rebus, or pun, of the royal name. As may be seen in the large wooden statue once displayed in the royal palace at Abomey (and now in the Musee Quai Branly in Paris), the shark is a metaphor for Behanzin; as does the shark, the king guards the coast of the kingdom of Dahomey.
Artistic representation thumb|upright|Man-Shark by Sossa Dede (c. 1890), a Fon statue symbolizing Béhanzin, musée du quai Branly, Paris, France.Each of Dahomey's kings was represented in sculpture with images that referred to the proverbs association,s, and wordplay attached to his royal name. The images that, symbolize Behanzin (or Gbehanzin) include an egg held by a hand as the words for these in the Fon language form a rebus, or pun of the royal name. As may be seen in the large wooden statue once displayed in the royal p,alace at Abomey (and now in the Musee Quai Branly in Paris), the shark is a metaphor for Behanzin; as does the shark, the king guards the coast of the kingdom of Dahomey.