Linguist staff

Object Details

Fante artist

Akan artist

Label Text

Rulers among the Fante and neighboring peoples generally communicate through royal spokesmen. Serving as intermediaries and advisors, these counselors hold positions of considerable authority that require loyalty, judgment and an impressive command of language, particularly proverbs.

Such high-ranking individuals carry elaborately carved, gilded staffs of office that are topped with figural references to proverbs. Here, the finial depicts two men sitting at a table with food before them and invokes the well-known proverb "The food is for the one who owns it, not for the one who is hungry." It reinforces the notion that the throne belongs to the rightful heir, not to challengers who desire the office. It can also be applied more broadly to the inheritance of family wealth and responsibility.

Description

Wood staff, black in color, elaborately carved and accented with sections of gold leaf, topped by a wood finial covered with gold leaf and depicting two men seated on stools with a low table between them. One of the men has his hand poised over the food bowl that rests in front of them on the table. The finial is separately carved and fits into the top of the shaft; the shaft is carved in three parts which are attached through dowels. Decorative banding along the shaft is embellished with gold-leafing and has been touched-up with gold paint where the gold leaf has worn off.

Provenance

Sidi Camara, -- to ca. 1975

Dimondstein Tribal Arts, ca. 1975 to 2004

Exhibition History

Good As Gold: Fashioning Senegalese Women, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., October 24, 2018-February 2, 2020; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, September 16, 2020-January 3, 2021

Published References

Maples, Amanda, Ashby Johnson, Marian, and Dumouchelle, Kevin D., 2018, Good As Gold, Washington, D.C.: NMAfA, Smithsonian, p. 19, illustrated p. 20

Content Statement

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Image Requests

High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/

Credit Line

Museum purchase

Mid-20th century

Object number

2004-11-1

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Sculpture

Medium

Wood, gold foil

Dimensions

H x W x D: 162.6 x 15.9 x 5.7 cm (64 x 6 1/4 x 2 1/4 in.)

Geography

Ghana

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

Object Name

okyeame poma

National Museum of African Art

Topic

Status

furniture

Male use

male

Record ID

nmafa_2004-11-1

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys71ed7de13-6d00-4e05-8027-c80e0d8f5454