Kongo Wood Staff, Republic of Congo, Based

Rank, among the Kongo, was something you carried.

Chiefs and other figures of authority bore staffs crowned with figures as signs of their standing. This one, carved in the Republic of Congo in the 20th century, stands forty-one inches tall with a small standing figure at the top.

Below, the shaft is punctuated by three large spheres, each ringed with rows of small studs, separated by short carved sections with incised geometric patterns and raised knobs. The wood is a rich, dark reddish-brown with a soft gloss, and the staff stands upright on a metal base.

It needs no introduction. It makes its own.