Scepter

Staffs and scepters as well as tobacco pipes and mortars are among the most important sculptural creations to stem from the Ovimbundu peoples, a Central African culture. All of these object types have associations with ideas of class, status, and power. This scepter has a handle wrapped in thin copper wire that forms wide bands of alternating metal and wooden passages. Its finial is a human head whose carved headdress or hairstyle is ornamented with round-headed metal tacks.