NGUNI DIVINERS STAFF
SOUTHERN AFRICA
£450
African & Oceanic Art and Antiquities
Auction: 15 October 2019 at 16:00 BST
Description
carved wood, with a serpent coiling up the shaft, the eyes recessed and possibly once inset with glass beads, with a small bulb terminal
Dimensions
118cm long
Footnote
Provenance:
Terence and Bernice Pethica Collection, United Kingdom
Note:
"Although some of the earliest coiled snake staffs seem to have come from the Eastern Cape, several appear to have been collected in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, suggesting that the practice of carrying staffs of this kind might have spread from the Cape to other, neighbouring regions, possibly in the course of the 19th century. This would be consistent with the evidence indicating that these staffs were probably used by ritual specialists rather than chiefs, for diviners commonly use similar symbols and motifs throughout Southern Africa."
Conru, K. 2002. The Art of Southeastern Africa. P. 211.