Ashanti Linguist's Staff Depicting Seated Man with Fingers on Face

The okyeame does not speak for himself. Among the Ashanti, he speaks for the chief, and his staff does some of the talking.

The figure at the top usually recalls a proverb. Here a man sits on a curved stool, both index fingers raised to his cheeks. His clothing is painted gray-blue, trimmed in white. The face is a warm brown, the hair black. The finial rests on a black plinth atop a wooden staff over five and a half feet tall. Ghana, 20th century.

Whatever the proverb is, the pose rewards guessing. Lean it in a quiet corner.