Ethiopian Prayer Staff with Finial

Pale and straight, with a crossbar head like a small anchor.

Ethiopian makers produced this early 20th-century prayer staff with finial of bamboo and iron. Prayer staffs are commonly associated with Ethiopian Christian clergy and are used in services as both a support and a symbol. The shaft is light honey-colored, smooth and evenly tapered, finished with a dark iron tip. A flat, T-shaped head in dull metal sits on a thin collar at the top. The surface has a clean, lightly polished feel.

About five and a half feet tall. The lightest of its kind in a lineup, and the easiest to lean.