H x W x D: 162.6 x 15.9 x 5.7 cm (64 x 6 1/4 x 2 1/4 in.)
Type:
Sculpture
Geography:
Ghana
Date:
Mid-20th century
Label Text:
Rulers among the Fante and neighboring peoples generally communicate through royal spokesmen. Serving as intermediaries and advisors, these counselors hold positions of considerable authority that require loyalty, judgment and an impressive command of language, particularly proverbs.
Such high-ranking individuals carry elaborately carved, gilded staffs of office that are topped with figural references to proverbs. Here, the finial depicts two men sitting at a table with food before them and invokes the well-known proverb "The food is for the one who owns it, not for the one who is hungry." It reinforces the notion that the throne belongs to the rightful heir, not to challengers who desire the office. It can also be applied more broadly to the inheritance of family wealth and responsibility.
Description:
Wood staff, black in color, elaborately carved and accented with sections of gold leaf, topped by a wood finial covered with gold leaf and depicting two men seated on stools with a low table between them. One of the men has his hand poised over the food bowl that rests in front of them on the table. The finial is separately carved and fits into the top of the shaft; the shaft is carved in three parts which are attached through dowels. Decorative banding along the shaft is embellished with gold-leafing and has been touched-up with gold paint where the gold leaf has worn off.
Provenance:
Sidi Camara, -- to ca. 1975
Dimondstein Tribal Arts, ca. 1975 to 2004
Exhibition History:
Good As Gold: Fashioning Senegalese Women, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., October 24, 2018-February 2, 2020; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, September 16, 2020-January 3, 2021
Published References:
Maples, Amanda, Ashby Johnson, Marian, and Dumouchelle, Kevin D., 2018, Good As Gold, Washington, D.C.: NMAfA, Smithsonian, p. 19, illustrated p. 20
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