A fine Southeast African staff

the long, slender shaft leading to the finial in the form of a baboon, standing on four legs supported by an oblong base, the broad back tapering and leading to a pendant tail, the ovoid head with disc-like ears and a recessed facial plane; '846' at the base of the shaft; medium reddish brown patina overall.

Anthony Frimain, London, October 12, 1979

For a related staff final and discussion by Sandra Klopper see Sotheby's New York, November 11, 2004, lot 130; see also Sotheby's New York, November 11, 2005, lot 161. The carver of the present staff seems to be identifiable by an individual treatment of the eyes and eyebrows which also appear on three male figures in the collection of the Natal Museum (cf. Johannesburg 1991: 90, figure 78).