The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Staff

Staff

1800s–1900s
Location: not on view

Description

Arguably the finest surviving carving of the Baboon Master in a Western collection, this staff features exceptionally sophisticated articulation and detailing. The circular pokerwork motif on one side—which echoes the treatment of the ears on the male heads supporting the baboon—may represent a shield or a leaf. The heads feature the characteristic ornament that signifies maturity and marriage; covered with a mixture of gum, charcoal, and oil, this hairdo, called isicoco, employed a fiber or sinew ring into which the wearer’s hair was woven.
  • ?–2005 latest
    Private collection, United Kingdom
    2005
    (Sotheby's New York, NY, November 11, 2005, lot 161)
    2010
    (Jacaranda Tribal Art Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    2010–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • African Master Carvers: Known and Famous. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 26-July 16, 2017).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (3/26/2017-7/16/2017); “African Master Carvers: Known and Famous”.
    The Art of Daily Life: Portable Objects from Southern Africa. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 17, 2011-February 26, 2012).
    Cleveland Museum of Art, (4/16/11-2/26/12); "The Art of Daily Life: Portable Objects from Southeast Africa" cat. no. 55
  • {{cite web|title=Staff|url=false|author=The Baboon Master|year=1800s–1900s|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2010.204