Kwere figural staff, Tanzania
wood, pigment
52" tall
early to mid 20th century, definite signs of age and use
*The figure on the top has been previously broken off and restored.
$2500
"Staffs had many functions: they were both status symbols and tools used by a wide range of ritual specialists,
such as headmen, female leaders of a lineages or associations, diviners, healers, exorcists, and witch hunters, in
a variety of ways.
Their form and iconography varied according to the ritualists to whom they belonged, and in the villages where
only one staff existed it was used by all." - Mwana Hiti by Marc L. Felix
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