id: 163543 accession number: 2004.85 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2004.85 updated: 2025-05-01 11:03:31.640000 Staff of Office, early to mid-1800s. Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Luba. Wood and iron; overall: 170 x 13.3 cm (66 15/16 x 5 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 2004.85 title: Staff of Office title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: early to mid-1800s creation date earliest: 1800 creation date latest: 1850 current location: creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Luba technique: Wood and iron department: African Art collection: African Art type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 170 x 13.3 cm (66 15/16 x 5 1/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Art and Power in the Central African Savanna opening date: 2008-09-18T00:00:00 Art and Power in the Central African Savanna. Menil Collection, Houston, TX (September 26, 2008-January 4, 2009); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 31, 2009); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA (June 20-October 11, 2009). title: Artlens Exhibition 2019 opening date: 2019-06-11T04:00:00 Artlens Exhibition 2019. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer). title: Narrative Wisdom and African Arts opening date: 2024-10-19T04:00:00 Narrative Wisdom and African Arts. Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (organizer) (October 19, 2024-January 5, 2025) https://www.slam.org/exhibitions/narrative-wisdom-and-african-arts/. --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Chief Msidi (c. 1830–1891), Yeke (Garanzange) Kingdom (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo), 1888, given to British missionary Frederick Stanley Arnot. date: ?–1888 footnotes: *
"Msidi's farewell was quite touching in its way. He was anxious that I should wait for his son to go with me. I did not care to encourage this, so declined to wait. At last, after finding that I sought nothing from him, he gave me from his side his rod of authority, or sceptre, assuring me that it would be, to all who knew him, an assurance of the friendship that exists between us." March 13, 1888 letter from Frederick Stanley Arnot reproduced in Arnot, Frederick. S. 1893. Bihé And Garenganze:Or Four Years' Further Work and Travel in Central Africa. London: J.E. Hawkin, pp. 244–45.
*

* citations: Frederick Stanley Arnot [1858-1914], probably Glasgow, Scotland, 1914, by descent to his son Dr. Arthur B. Arnot. date: 1888–1914 footnotes: citations: Dr. Arthur B. Arnot, New York, NY, 1987, consigned for auction at Sotheby’s. date: 1914–1987 footnotes: citations: (Sotheby’s, Important Tribal Art, New York, NY, Nov. 10, 1987, Lot #79, sold to Philippe and Hélène Leloup for George Feher) date: 1987 footnotes: citations: George Feher, New York, NY, 1990s, acquired by Morris Pinto date: 1987–1990s footnotes: citations: Morris Pinto, New York, NY, 1996, acquired by Philippe and Hélène Leloup date: ?–1996 footnotes: citations: Philippe and Hélène Leloup, Paris, France, 2004, donated to Marie Victoire Koch date: 1996–2004 footnotes: citations: Marie Victoire Koch, Saint Mandé, France, 2004, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: 2004 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2004– footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Arnot, Fred S. Bihe and Garenganze: A record of four years’ work and journeying in Africa. London: J.E. Hawkins & Co, LTD., 1893, front cover. page number: Front cover url: Sotheby’s. Important Tribal Art. New York: Sotheby’s, 1987: Lot. 79. page number: lot. 79 url: Nooter, Robert and Nancy. The Art of Collecting African Art. New York City, NY: New York Center for African Art, 1988, 20-21. page number: p. 20-21 url: Bacquart, Jean-Baptiste. The Tribal Arts of Africa. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1998, 159. page number: p. 159 url: Cleveland Museum of Art. Annual Report 2004. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 67. page number: p. 67 url: https://www.clevelandart.org/sites/default/files/documents/annual-report/2004_annual_report.pdf Cleveland Museum of Art. “Major Acquisitions: 2000-2005.” In The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine: July/August 2005. (Summer 2005): 12. page number: p. 12 url: Petridis, Constantine. Art and Power in the Central African Savanna: Luba, Songye, Chokwe, Luluwa. Brussels: Mercatorfonds, 2008, 58-9, fig. 39. page number: p. 58, 59: fig. 39 url: Petridis, Constantine. "New Acquisitions of African Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art". In African Arts, 44, no. 1 (Spring 2011): 54, fig. 2. page number: p. 54: fig. 2 url: Petridis, Constantine, et al. Fragments of the Invisible: The René and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. Milan: 5 Continents, 2013, 107. page number: Mentioned: p. 107 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2004.85/2004.85_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2004.85/2004.85_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2004.85/2004.85_full.tif