Staff / Artist Unknown, African, Luba People Democratic Republic of the Congo
Viewer
About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 2001/2.76
- Title
- Staff
- Artist Nationality
- Congolese
- Medium and Support
- wood with metal
- Object Creation Date
- 1900-1940
- Object Creation Place
- Africa (continent)
- Congo, Democratic Republic of the (nation)
- Creation Place 1
- Africa (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- Congo, Democratic Republic of the (nation)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Margaret H. and Albert J. Coudron
- Dimensions
- 143 cm x 18 cm x 10.5 cm (56 5/16 in. x 7 1/16 in. x 4 1/8 in.)
- Primary Object Classification
- Costume and Costume Accessory
- Primary Object Type
- staff
- Secondary Object Classification
- Ritual Objects
- Secondary Object Type
- carving
- Physical Description
- Two carved female figures, holding one arm over each other's back, an the other resting on the stomach decorated with lozenge motifs and scarification patterns; one figure is wearing a rope around the middle. A curving shaft supports the figures, broadening from the metal tip at the bottom into two bulging forms, divided by a dark black line through the middle, and covered in a carved pattern of triangles and lines on both front and back. The staff is heavy, with a nice shiny patina.
- Subject Matter
- In precolonial times, Luba staffs were carried by kings and other dignitaries and served as both prestige items and receptacles for sacred power. Moreover, certain iconographic features allow the staffs to be read as carved maps, sharing an iconography with the Luba memory boards (called "lukasa"). The paired female figures commonly found atop Luba staffs represent the female founders of specific royal lines, or the king himself. The broad sections of the staff, with incised patterns evoking scarification pattterns, refer to the land itself, and to specific geographic features such as mountains or rivers, personified as spirits.
- Secondary Keywords
- ceremonial weapons
- objects
- objects we use
- people
- people (agents)
- people and culture
- people by gender
- weapons
- weapons and ammunition
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 706 x 1502
- File Size
- 117 KB
- Record
- 2001/2.76
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2001-sl-2.76/2001_2.76.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:2001-SL-2.76:2001_2.76.JPG
Cite this Item
View the Help Guide for more information.
- Full citation
-
"Staff; Artist Unknown, African, Luba People Democratic Republic of the Congo." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2001-sl-2.76/2001_2.76.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 17, 2024.
