The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Staff of Office (lower segment)

Staff of Office (lower segment)

early-mid 1800s
Iron
Overall: 170 cm (66 15/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 2004.85.b
Location: 001A ArtLens Exhibition

Did You Know?

Besides prestige emblems and symbols of power, these staffs were also historical documents that could be “read” like a sculptural map from top to bottom.

Description

Sanctified by a ritual specialist and enhanced with medicinal substances, the staff possessed supernatural qualities and was endowed with healing power. Luba staffs are among the most important regalia of Luba kings. The metal point alludes to the kingdom's stability and durability. Each staff has its own distinctive iconography to reflect regional styles.
  • ?–1888
    Chief Msidi (c. 1830–1891), Yeke (Garanzange) Kingdom (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo), 1888, given to British missionary Frederick Stanley Arnot
    1888–1914
    Frederick Stanley Arnot [1858-1914], probably Glasgow, Scotland, 1914, by descent to his son Dr. Arthur B. Arnot.
    1914–1987
    Dr. Arthur B. Arnot, New York, NY, 1987, consigned for auction at Sotheby’s.
    1987
    (Sotheby’s, Important Tribal Art, New York, NY, Nov. 10, 1987, Lot #79, sold to Philippe and Hélène Leloup for George Feher)
    1987–1990s
    George Feher, New York, NY, 1990s, acquired by Morris Pinto
    ?–1996
    Morris Pinto, New York, NY, 1996, acquired by Philippe and Hélène Leloup
    1996–2004
    Philippe and Hélène Leloup, Paris, France, 2004, donated to Marie Victoire Koch
    2004
    Marie Victoire Koch, Saint Mandé, France, 2004, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2004–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 "Msidi's farewell was quite touching in its way. He was anxious that I should wait for his son to go with me. I did not care to encourage this, so declined to wait. At last, after finding that I sought nothing from him, he gave me from his side his rod of authority, or sceptre, assuring me that it would be, to all who knew him, an assurance of the friendship that exists between us." March 13, 1888 letter from Frederick Stanley Arnot reproduced in Arnot, Frederick. S. 1893. Bihé And Garenganze: Or Four Years' Further Work and Travel in Central Africa. London: J.E. Hawkin, pp. 244–45.
  • Artlens Exhibition 2019. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer).
    Art and Power in the Central African Savanna. Menil Collection, Houston, TX (September 26, 2008-January 4, 2009); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 31, 2009); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA (June 20-October 11, 2009).
  • {{cite web|title=Staff of Office (lower segment)|url=false|author=|year=early-mid 1800s|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2004.85.b