Chief's staff "mwala"

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Description

wood, rich reddish brown patina, decorating nails, decorated shaft, subdivided by disc-shaped compartments, carved with a sitting figure holding a spherical vessel, crowned by a female figure with child, slightly dam., cracks, on pedestal;
the founding myths of the Kongo peoples state that nine staffs “mwala” of the nine original clans were needed to rule. The chief’s staff “mwala” was a conduit of communication and a symbol of legitimacy that linked the ancestors with the living. Linked with the earth, it often has a sharp iron tip to be planted in the ground.

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Comparing literature

Baeke, Viviane (ed.), Treasures from the Africa-Museum Tervuren, Tervuren 1995, p. 292; ill. 31 f.

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