Carved staffs with full caryatid-like male or female figures, or with discrete head motifs as integral elements, are a frequent form found in the southern African region. Many are challenging to provenance but this finely wrought staff with its elegant carving and traces of intricate wirework that once adorned it, is very likely from the Mpumalanga or Limpopo Provinces of South Africa. The long, swallowtailed back skirt on the carved female figure is typical of both the Bapedi, a north Sotho group from the region, but also of the Bantwana, a related people living in close proximity. The short-cropped hairstyle is also typical of Bantwana male and female youths, as can be seen in Peter Magubane’s sumptuously illustrated publication on the Bantwane.

The closed eyes and imperturbable expression of both heads on this staff suggest a meditative state, one in which the spirits of the ancestors are accessed. The bilateral symmetry, upright pose and hands lightly placed on the thighs of the figure confirm the likelihood of this reading. That the ancestral shades are evoked and invited during the consumption of snuff extends the aura of the staff.

‍