The rooster is a revered animal among the Benin/Owo people, being both used as an important animal sacrificed to the ancestors, and as a royal reference to the Queen Mother.
Each of the royal palace chiefs have specific duties which they perform for the Oba. It is possible that in Owo, chief Elewende and his family were responsible for the sourcing and sacrificing of the animals used ceremonially for the Oba. Hence the combination of attributes in the figure.
The other possibility is that chief Elewende was responsible for caring for the Queen Mother, with whom the rooster image is primarily associated.
Whatever, the detail given to various kinds of feathers and features of the rooster, as well as those of the man’s beautifully modeled hands, bowl with its guilloche pattern, and quiver on his back, testify to the mastery of the caster.