Ashanti Linguist's Staff Depicting Bird on Stool

Crow in a white neck band leans forward on a squared pedestal.

This linguist’s staff depicting bird on stool is Ashanti, from Ghana, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is carved & painted wood. When stools were not in use they were tilted onto their sides, so that other spirits, especially evil ones, could not take up residence in them. Black bird with a wide white band wrapped at the neck, a sharp pointed beak and a small bright eye. It stands on a single slender leg on a stepped column in worn tan and grey. It is 3.5 inches wide, 8 deep and 67.5 high.

Inspecting everything below, and unimpressed by most of it.