Royal Scepter (Primary Title)
Unknown (Artist)
This beautifully carved chief’s scepter is laden with symbols of power. The commanding figure sitting atop this impressive scepter holds a medicine horn and chews on a root used to make healing brews, signs that his reign with continue to prosper. The knob of resin above his chiefly crown encases earth that has been packed into a hollow in the head, linking him with the ancestors and declaring his mastery of magic. Beneath him, a large bird denotes his spiritual transcendence. It stands on the back of an elephant, another reference to the chief’s lordly status. Cowrie shells, signs of wealth and good fortune, embellish the shaft of this magnificent symbol of office.
This scepter is from the Yombe subgroup of Kongo culture. The Yombe inhabit parts of both the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, and Cabinda, a province of Angola between the two countries.
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