LINGUIST STAFF SYMBOLISM

Accra, [Ghana]: Liberty Press Limited, 1971. Pictorial broadside, 20 1/4 x 14 1/2 inches. Lithograph mounted to board. Mild rubbing and toning and moderate warping; 3/4-inch abrasion from apparent sticker removal in lower-left corner, affecting border. Good to very good.

A visual guide to the symbolism of the Ghanaian linguist's staff, showing and describing 30 different finial motifs. In traditional Akan societies, linguists are the most important non-royal court officials, serving mixed roles as counselors, ambassadors, legal experts, and historians. Every linguist (okyeame) carries a wooden staff (okyeame poma), topped with a carved finial of a symbolic figure. "The symbol he carries is the symbol (usually proverbial) of the state he represents. Some depict animal or human forms while others depict just simple abstract forms. Whatever stands on that staff or stick represents the beliefs and aspirations of the entire state or clan. The staff itself is made of wood wrapped with either silver or gold leaf, or sometimes of solid gold or silver."

The poster's artist, Ablade Glover (b. 1934), is one of Ghana's most celebrated artists, known chiefly for his dynamic, semi-abstract paintings of urban and market scenes. At the time of the present publication, Glover was serving in the Faculty of Art at the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana (now, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology), where he retired in 1994 as Head of the Department of Art Education and Dean of the Department of Art. OCLC records one copy, at Northwestern University.