Object Details
- Label Text
- A 1676 account of the Fante King of Fetu describes his long mace mounted with silver and engraved with his name. Other early European observers also note the use of such canes, citing their popularity with coastal chiefs and attributing many as gifts from Europeans. They seem to have been used to authorize a messenger or a representative. Made of black wood encircled with silver strips and topped by a silver knob, these early staffs were known as okyeame poma. The addition of figures and the spread to wood “linguist” proverb staffs among the Asante is credited by Cole and Ross to the late 19th century.
- Among the Fante, wood staffs featuring symbolic animals, including birds such as the crow and parrot, are known as Abusua poma, or clan staffs. They are owned by the head of the lineage are brought out for funerals. Such use of animals would also tie in with Fante proverbs; one proverb particularly associated with these clans is “A bird roosts with its own clan.”
- Description
- Staff finial of repoussé silver, in an inverted conical form with repeated concentric circle motifs, topped by a figure of a bird on a short column. The staff is of darkened wood with four bands of repoussé silver and terminal iron spiral spike.
- Provenance
- Ambassador Kenneth and Bonnie Brown, Washington, D.C., purchased from a dealer, Accra, Ghana, October 1992 to 2012
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Data Source
- National Museum of African Art
- Maker
- Fante artist
- Date
- Late 19th to mid-20th century
- Credit Line
- Gift of Ambassador Kenneth and Bonnie Brown
- Medium
- Silver alloy, wood, iron
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 165.7 x 5.4 x 4.4 cm (65 1/4 x 2 1/8 x 1 3/4 in.)
- Type
- Sculpture
