Ashanti Linguist's Staff Depicting a Man with an Animal Under a Tree

Waving man stands under a spiky tree beside a very patient log.

This linguist’s staff depicting a man with an animal under a tree is Ashanti, from Ghana, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is carved & painted wood. Each staff finial was made as a visual form of one or more Ashanti proverbs, and the staffs were carved from wood, mostly painted, with some accented in gold leaf. Figure in shorts and a belt, one hand raised, stands near a bare tree with a spray of pointed branches. A clay-like pot and a cylindrical block carved with a small face rest on the golden board. It is 9 inches wide, 6.5 deep and 69 high.

A whole afternoon of events, packed onto one tray.