A rare Azande staff

the cylindrical shaft with six joints supporting the janiform finial with distinct faces, each of similar form, with small pointed chins, planear jowls and sagittate noses leading to arching brows framing the circular, dotted eyes beneath a transverse structure with two sets of opposing faces framing an openwork handle; '682' under the base; honey brown patina with areas of pokerwork.

Acquired from Alfred Scheinberg, New York, May 14, 1977

According to Mack (in Schildkrout and Keim 1990: 222-225), there are three types of Azande sculpture. One is the most well-known type, the small, abstract, usually encrusted figures, called Yanda, and used within the Mani secret society; another is the more naturalistic type seen especially on the necks of harps; the third is a more abstract type and its style is seen here on the Brill staff. The highly stylized carvings of this type are associated with the Yambio region, the one-time capital of the kingdom of Gbduwe. This information is based in particular on the collecting information for the well-known male and female figure from this area in the collection of the British museum (see ibid. figure 11.8 and 11.9). Mack has surmised that the works in this style seem to have been presentation pieces created by Balanda artists who sought refuge in the court of King Gbudwe (d. 1905) around the turn of the last century.