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Staff Finial: Kneeling Female with Clasped Hands

19th century, documented ca.1891

Not on view

Several photographs show this finial attached to its original staff of office held by the regional chief Nemlão (ca. 1788– 1888), who had positioned himself to profit from proximity to nodes of international trade on the Congo River, establishing several villages with advantageous access to Boma, capital of the Congo Free State beginning in 1886. Born in Saint-Antoine, on the southern bank of the Congo River controlled by the Portuguese, he established several villages with advantageous access to Boma. Catholic Spiritans set up a mission in one of these in 1886. Nemlão was baptized, and in photographs it seems evident that he underscored his affiliation with Catholicism. This kneeling female figure with hands clasped below her chin is likely in an attitude of Christian prayer.

Staff Finial: Kneeling Female with Clasped Hands, Ivory, Kongo peoples — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Staff Finial: Kneeling Female with Clasped Hands, Ivory, Kongo peoples

Staff Finial: Kneeling Female with Clasped Hands, Ivory, Kongo peoples

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This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Finial and complete original staff shown in 'Portrait of Chief Nemlâo with Woman and Children' (Holly W. Ross Postcard collection).

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Title: Staff Finial: Kneeling Female with Clasped Hands

Date: 19th century, documented ca.1891

Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Banana region

Culture: Kongo peoples

Medium: Ivory

Dimensions: H. 6 3/8 in. (16.3 cm), W. 1 5/8 in. (4 cm), D. 1 3/4 in. (4.5 cm)

Classification: Bone/Ivory-Sculpture

Credit Line: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, Norwich; Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection

The Met

The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at The Met

The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.