Luba Janus Prestige Staff, Democratic Republic of the Congo
kibango
Wood, metal, pigments, bullet cartridge
height 13 1/4in (33.7cm)
Provenance
Daniel Hourdé, Paris
Philippe Ratton, Paris
Private Collection, Massachusetts
Charles D. Miller, III, St. James, New York
The handle wrapped in dimpled metal running up between the heads and the cylindrical top above, each head with pierced holes on the top, and each with almond-shaped eyes and elongated noses above diminutive mouths, a bullet cartridge pierced into the top, the bottom of the shaft carved to a point.
Cf. Yale University Art Gallery, van Rijn African Art Archive no. 0064428 for a similar staff