I would have to say that it's a VERY rare piece as, to the best of my knowledge, this is the only one that's ever been presented in this forum and I've cetainly never seen one like it offered for sale before.
The possibilitues are almost limitless, from purely ceremonial to sacrificial to homage.
As noted, the snakes are highly important in many African cultures (and other continents as well), particularly among the Yaruba nations(?), while the combination of brass and male and female, immediately makes me think of the Dahomey that even had an Amazon army of sorts, known as "The Kings Wives" that were known to be crack fighters.
While the shape is not like anything I've seen in knives from Benin, the male/female and animals crawling to and away from the figures is often seen on the back of some of the larger swords and often conveys a story or meaning.
In my opinion that's a piece that you might want to take special care of.
Mike
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