Staff

Accession Number
2001/2.11

Title
Staff

Artist(s)
Kongo

Artist Nationality
Kongo (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
Early to mid-20th century

Medium & Support
wood

Dimensions
49 13/16 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 3/16 in (126.52 cm x 3.18 cm x 3.02 cm);51 3/8 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 3/16 in (130.49 cm x 3.18 cm x 3.02 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Margaret H. and Albert J. Coudron

Subject matter
Among the Kongo peoples, carved, wooden staffs were the prerogative of the elite, namely, chiefs, healers-diviners, and orators. Known as an mvwala, a staff was much more than a walking stick; it communicated the owner’s identity, status, and power through nuanced messages conveyed in its iconography.

This staff most likely belonged to a chief. Its finial features a kneeling, female figure representing a revered, maternal ancestor who continues to protect her descendants from the afterlife as she once did while living. A chief communicated his royal lineage by depicting a particular female ancestor on his staff. In the royal court and beyond, this link with an ancestral past legitimizes and protects the chief’s claim to political authority. Furthermore, the maternal ancestor symbolizes fertility, maternity, progeny, and, above all, the continuation of the lineage — a primary concern of the chief and his clan.

Reference:
Staffs of Life: Rods, Staffs Scepters and Wands from the Coudron Collection of African Art. Ed.: Allen F. Roberts. Iowa City: PASALA: The Project for Advanced Study of Art and Life in Africa and the University of Iowa Museum of Art, 1994.

Physical Description
This long, slender wooden staff features a kneeling female figure at its finial. Bearing a tall, spade-shaped coiffure and scarifications upon her chest, she is seated with her right hand positioned upon her abdomen and her left hand upon her hip. The staff is decorated with fine, geometric incisions as well as several large, rounded shapes which create segments along its midsection.

Primary Object Classification
Wood and Woodcarving

Primary Object Type
staff

Additional Object Classification(s)
Sculpture

Collection Area
African

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
ancestors
clans
female
fertility
maternity
power
spirits (beings)
staff
staffs (walking sticks)
symbols of office or status

& Author Notes

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