Collection Online as of September 28, 2023

Staff of Office (lower segment)

early-mid 1800s

Part of a set. See all set records

Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Luba-style maker

Iron

Overall: 170 cm (66 15/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 2004.85.b

Location

001A ArtLens Exhibition

Fun Fact

Besides prestige emblems and symbols of power, these staffs were also historical documents that could be “read” like a sculptural map from top to bottom.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

Provenance

?–1888

Chief Msidi (c. 1830–1891), Yeke (Garanzange) Kingdom (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo), 1888, given to British missionary Frederick Stanley Arnot ^{1, 2}

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.

²Msidi is often referred to as Msiri, or by the fuller name Mwenda Msiri Ngelengwa Shitambi

Exhibition history

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).

Artlens Exhibition 2019. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer).