Scepter (staff)

The presented object consists of a stone-carved female figure in the upper part and a wood-carved round staff decorated with copper nails and geometric patterns in the lower part. That is most likely the staff or sceptre of the chief, the so-called mwala amphumu. Usually, the head of the sceptre was made in the form of a flattened brass ball. Typical for this insignia of power are carved human figures presented in a pose expressing submission and respect or a group of figures situated over animals. The staff in question shows a sculpture of a woman kneeling with her arms folded and her shoulders slightly bent forward. In the Kingdom of the Congo, dignitaries and notables of the second rank were depicted in this pose. This positioning of the body was intended to express submission and respect towards high-born persons, rulers. Only female aristocrats ruling the kingdom were exempt from this custom. It is not without reason that this object was decorated with copper nails. The Bakongo consider them to be fetishes (magical objects), which are full of power. They are primarily meant to protect the living from the wandering and vengeful dead and attacks by sinister sorcerers. Some researchers believe that this may be the influence of Christianisation on the Bakongo art.

Katarzyna Findlik-Gawron