Staff

Museum number:
5-13049
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21050013049
Alternate number:
B-1187 (previous number (Bascom’s number))
Accession number:
Acc.3193
Description:
Staff finial; elongated patinated red-brown wood ending in bust of woman holding her hands up to her breasts.
Donor:
Berta Bascom and William Russell Bascom
Collection place:
Angola
Verbatim coll. place:
Angola, Ovimbundu (Mbundu, Umbundu)/ Mbailundu kingdom (Bailundu)
Culture or time period:
Umbundu
Collection date:
1947-1948
Materials:
Wood (plant material)
Object type:
ethnography
Function:
3.1 Status Objects and Insignia of Office
Accession date:
December 22, 1975
Context of use:
Village chief's staff. This staff of office is essential when a chief is visiting, attending a council in his own village, or receiving visitors. At the death of a chief his staff, tobacco pipe and sleeping mat are placed in a small house where such relics of deceased chiefs are kept permanently.
Department:
Africa (except Ancient Egypt)
Dimensions:
length 43.3 centimeters
Loans:
S1968-1969 #39: Contra Costa College (November 18, 1968–December 27, 1968), S1968-1969 #87: College of Marin (April 3, 1969–May 2, 1969), and S1969-1970 #32: Santa Rosa Junior College (October 24, 1969–October 31, 1969)
Images:
Hearst Museum object titled Staff, accession number 5-13049, described as Staff finial; elongated patinated red-brown wood ending in bust of woman holding her hands up to her breasts.
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Staff, accession number 5-13049, described as Staff finial; elongated patinated red-brown wood ending in bust of woman holding her hands up to her breasts.

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