{ "data": { "id": 163544, "accession_number": "2004.85.a", "share_license_status": "CC0", "tombstone": "Staff of Office (upper segment), early to mid-1800s. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Luba-style maker. Wood; overall: 170 cm (66 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 2004.85.a", "current_location": null, "title": "Staff of Office (upper segment)", "creation_date": "early to mid-1800s", "creation_date_earliest": 1800, "creation_date_latest": 1850, "artists_tags": [], "culture": [ "Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Luba-style maker" ], "technique": "Wood", "support_materials": [], "department": "African Art", "collection": "African Art", "type": "Sculpture", "measurements": "Overall: 170 cm (66 15/16 in.)", "dimensions": { "overall": { "height": 1.7, "height_inch": 66, "height_inch_fraction": 0.9375 } }, "state_of_the_work": null, "edition_of_the_work": null, "copyright": null, "inscriptions": [], "exhibitions": { "current": [ { "id": 229166, "title": "Art and Power in the Central African Savanna", "description": "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).", "opening_date": "2008-09-18T00:00:00" }, { "id": 441598, "title": "Artlens Exhibition 2019", "description": "Artlens Exhibition 2019. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer).", "opening_date": "2019-06-11T04:00:00" } ], "legacy": [] }, "provenance": [ { "description": "Chief Msidi (c. 1830\u20131891), Yeke (Garanzange) Kingdom (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo), 1888, given to British missionary Frederick Stanley Arnot", "citations": [], "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. Bihe\u0301 And Garenganze:Or Four Years' Further Work and Travel in Central Africa. London: J.E. Hawkin, pp. 244\u201345.

", "

" ], "date": "?\u20131888", "sortorder": null }, { "description": "Frederick Stanley Arnot [1858-1914], probably Glasgow, Scotland, 1914, by descent to his son Dr. Arthur B. Arnot.", "citations": [], "footnotes": null, "date": "1888\u20131914", "sortorder": 2 }, { "description": "Dr. Arthur B. Arnot, New York, NY, 1987, consigned for auction at Sotheby\u2019s.", "citations": [], "footnotes": null, "date": "1914\u20131987", "sortorder": 3 }, { "description": "(Sotheby\u2019s, Important Tribal Art, New York, NY, Nov. 10, 1987, Lot #79, sold to Philippe and H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Leloup for George Feher)", "citations": [], "footnotes": null, "date": "1987", "sortorder": 4 }, { "description": "George Feher, New York, NY, 1990s, acquired by Morris Pinto", "citations": [], "footnotes": null, "date": "1987\u20131990s", "sortorder": 5 }, { "description": "Morris Pinto, New York, NY, 1996, acquired by Philippe and H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Leloup", "citations": [], "footnotes": null, "date": "?\u20131996", "sortorder": 6 }, { "description": "Philippe and H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Leloup, Paris, France, 2004, donated to Marie Victoire Koch", "citations": [], "footnotes": null, "date": "1996\u20132004", "sortorder": 7 }, { "description": "Marie Victoire Koch, Saint Mande, France, 2004, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art", "citations": [], "footnotes": null, "date": "2004", "sortorder": 8 }, { "description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH", "citations": [], "footnotes": null, "date": "2004\u2013", "sortorder": 9 } ], "find_spot": null, "related_works": [], "former_accession_numbers": [ "2004.85.a" ], "did_you_know": "Besides prestige emblems and symbols of power, these staffs were also historical documents that could be \u201cread\u201d like a sculptural map from top to bottom.", "early_education_description": null, "artlens_description": null, "description": "Sanctified by a ritual specialist and enhanced with medicinal substances, the staff possessed supernatural qualities and was endowed with healing power. Luba staffs are among the most important regalia of Luba kings. The metal point alludes to the kingdom's stability and durability. Each staff has its own distinctive iconography to reflect regional styles.", "external_resources": { "wikidata": [ "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60778815" ], "internet_archive": [] }, "citations": [ { "citation": "Petridis, Constantine. Art et Pouvoir dans la Savane d'Afrique Centrale (Bruxelles: Fonds Mercator, 2008), p. 58-9, fig. 39.", "page_number": "", "url": "" }, { "citation": "Petridis, Constantine. \"New Acquisitions of African Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art\". African Arts. (44) No. 1, Spring 2011. Pg. 54, Fig. 2.", "page_number": "", "url": "" } ], "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/2004.85.a", "images": {}, "alternate_images": [], "creditline": "John L. Severance Fund", "image_credit": null, "sketchfab_id": null, "sketchfab_url": null, "gallery_donor_text": null, "athena_id": 163544, "creators": [], "legal_status": "accessioned", "accession_date": "2004-12-06T00:00:00", "sortable_date": 1800, "date_added_to_oa": null, "date_text": "early to mid-1800s", "collapse_artists": false, "on_loan": false, "recently_acquired": false, "record_type": "part", "conservation_statement": null, "has_conservation_images": false, "cover_accession_number": "2004.85", "is_nazi_era_provenance": false, "impression": null, "alternate_titles": [ "Staff of Office (Kibango)" ], "is_highlight": false, "updated_at": "2026-05-29 08:29:40.208000" } }