A fine Songo scepter

Estimate

4,000 - 6,000 USD

bidding is closed

Description

the finial in the form of a European riding an ox above two center-facing birds and two opposing, stylized heads, the cylindrical shaft with a central figure carved in high relief; '964' and 'Ex 44 Cat 134' on labels on the base; slightly encrusted and varied dark brown patina.

Exhibited

Birmingham, Alabama, Birmingham Museum of Art, Chokwe: Art and Initiation Among Chokwe and Related Peoples, November 1, 1998 - January 3, 1999 (for additional venues see bibliography, Jordán 1998)

Literature

Robbins and Nooter 1989: 393, figure 1000
Jordán 1998: figure 134

Catalogue Note

Maxmillian Buchner (1846-1921), a German administrator, provided one of the earliest written documents (1886 and 1883) on the culture and artistry of the Songo. His account is based on his 1879 expedition through Songo country, located on the east side of the Kwango river and near one of the commercial trading centers in Angola, Malange (Bastin 1979: 30).

Bastin describes a closely related Songo scepter reproduced (along with two others) in Buchner's 1886 account: 'All three scepters are topped by a ritual group including a European riding an ox. ...The composition of this staff top is well balanced and clearly defined. The head of the European is concave in shape with a strong chin which I believe represents the beard that all European travellers would wear at that time in Africa.' The scepter's complex composition embodies a unique miniaturization of the Songo universe (ibid. : 40-41). See also Sotheby's London, July 3, 1989, lot 186 for an image of this related staff, formerly in the collection of the British Rail Pension Fund.

The Brill scepter, like those described by Buchner, represents societal changes among the Songo. 'Topped by a trader riding an ox, [the Brill staff] evokes the new wealth and status that many individuals achieved through their participatoin in the Portuguese-sponsored trade between the coast and the Angolan interior. The birds and ancestral characters that further adorn this staff served to protect the owner's enterprise' (Jordán 1998, figure 134).