Scepter/Tobacco Box
Artist: Chokwe people
Date: late 19th century, probably before 1887
Dimensions:
18 × 3 1/2 × 2 1/4 in. (45.7 × 8.9 × 5.7 cm)
Medium: carved wood mounted on an iron spike
Place of Origin: Africa, Kingdom of Chokwe (modern Angola & Congo)
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, by exchange
Object number: 2008.120
Label Text:Twenty-five figures of men and women are carved on this ornate ceremonial scepter. At the base a sculpture of a king supports everything above, alluding to the royal nature of the object. At the top is a hollow cylinder that contained tobacco, which was shared communally. The figures around the cylinder and those on the front panel stand with their arms in expressive positions. They may represent a procession of royal ancestors. The reverse panel (see illustration) depicts Lweji, the mythical ancestress of the Luba, in the traditional pose of mourning: arms propped on knees and hands on head. The reclining figures may be newly dead chiefs in the process of joining their ancestors.
DescriptionStaff: Cylindrical tobacco container carved from a single piece of wood, supported on a metal spike. A three-dimensional male figure supports a large flat rectangular panel carved in low relief on all sides with eighteen figures in various poses, which in turn supports a hollowed-out cylindrical vessel carved in high, openwork relief with six figures (see discussion of iconography)
Not on view
In Collection(s)