Staff

Item number Sf648 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

Wooden staff with finial in the form of a standing male, holding a cup and carrying two large ears of corn on his back. The face and chest have the remains of a dark red resin-like paint. Fragments of copper or copper alloy sheeting adhere in several places and many metal tacks protrude from the front and back of the figure. A bright red-orange band of paint encircles the staff a few inches below the finial. The bottom of the staff is broken off.

History Of Use

Wooden staffs have been found in elite burials, from Moche times onward (Larco). The Chimu and Inca staffs are often sheathed in gold-surfaces metals, like the examples in Bennett and Menzel.