A FINE BENIN RATTLE STAFF, ukhurhe, with carved standing female figure finial (left arm deficient), another female with upraised arms carved below the waisted grip, grooved bands about the hollow central rattle, surface eroded in places, probably 19th century 1m.04cm. high

細節

A FINE BENIN RATTLE STAFF, ukhurhe, with carved standing female figure finial (left arm deficient), another female with upraised arms carved below the waisted grip, grooved bands about the hollow central rattle, surface eroded in places, probably 19th century 1m.04cm. high

拍品專文

The female figure finial would suggest that this fine rattle staff was carved for an altar of a Queen Mother of an Oba. Ben-Amos (pp. 55-57) explains how the finial carving indicates the function of these staffs, which were widely used by the various cults in Benin both as a symbol of authority and a communication with the spirit world (when the staff struck the ground).