Mozambican Ancestral Staff - Female

Her four shell teeth are on full display, and she does not seem to mind.

This female ancestral staff comes from Mozambique, in East Africa, and dates to the 20th century, made of wood, shell and kaolin. Carved posts and staffs are known among several East African peoples, made to keep the dead present among the living, though their meanings vary from group to group. A pointed head tops a long, rounded body in reddish brown, with small breasts tipped in white. White also rings the neck and forms an apron edged with dark dots. Round shell eyes stare ahead. It stands 25 inches high.

She appears to have heard it all before.