Ashanti Linguist's Staff Depicting Lion

Lion in silver coat and orange mane roars from a kneeling pose.

This linguist’s staff depicting lion is Ashanti, from Ghana, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is carved foiled wood. Without a written language of their own, the Ashanti handed history and sayings down by word of mouth, and the article counts over 3,600 proverbs covering nearly every human situation. Crouching animal with an open mouth and a rust orange mane on top, the body silvery white and finely ribbed along the side. Paint chips away at the shoulder and tail, and it sits on a narrow dark base. It is 3.5 inches wide, 8.25 deep and 66 high.

Peeling a little, roaring a lot, and never once embarrassed.