Ashanti Liguist's Staff Depicting a Hunter, Based

He leans on his pole and the log waits. Nobody is in a hurry.

Ashanti carvers of Ghana, West Africa, made this staff in wood and pigment in the 20th century. Staffs of this kind, often called linguist staffs, are associated with spokespeople at Akan courts, and the finial usually carries an image that stands for a proverb. Here a painted man in a green shirt and gray shorts stands on a square plinth cut with a lattice pattern. He grips a long pole beside a pale, rounded log, and the figure’s skin is a warm honey brown. The shaft below is painted green.

About 61 inches tall. A proverb you have to work out yourself, which is the whole point.