Dignitary staff "mwala" · R. D. Congo, Bakongo · ID: 3038468
n'est plus disponible
Provenance
Private Collection, EnglandAdam Prout, Worcestershire, Great Britain
Description
light brown wood, partyl shiny brown patina, the upper third carved with three figures, min. dam., cracks, slight traces of abrasion;
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.
Littérature comparée
Cooksey, Susan et. al., Kongo across the waters, Gainesville 2013, p. 114, ill. 2.15