Ashanti Linguist's Staff Depicting Man with Leopard

Wide-mouthed cat and a boy in purple shorts share a pale pillow.

This linguist’s staff depicting man with leopard 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. Tawny cat sits with a gaping, pale-rimmed mouth, beside a slender standing figure with hands clasped in front and shorts painted violet. Both stand on a soft-cornered grey slab with scuffed paint. It is 6.25 inches wide, 5 deep and 50 high.

One of them is silent, and the other is simply very loud.