The Asante kingdom was the most powerful of numerous states that emerged at the beginning of the 15th century within the present-day country of Ghana. The kingdom's position between the rich gold fields of the north and the coast, where European ships vied for trade, assured its wealth and maintained its focus on gold as a symbol of affluence and power. Asante art is often related to oral traditions, including messages expressed through proverbs, sayings, or accounts of history. Staffs with decorative finials like this one bearing the figures of a rooster and hen are owned by the official spokesman, or linguist, of an Asante chief as symbols of his office.<\/p>\n
This finial refers to the proverb, "The hen knows well when it is dawn, but leaves it to the cock to announce." This proverb may reference the decision-making power of the chief, represented by the rooster, as opposed to the wisdom of the elders, represented by the hen, and the role the linguist plays in mediating between the two. This staff, thus, is not only a royal insignia, but also a symbol of the shrewd and eloquent diplomat that the okyeame<\/em>, or linguist, must be.<\/p>\n","short_description":null,"dimensions":"170.2 \u00d7 15.2 \u00d7 20.3 cm (67 \u00d7 6 \u00d7 8 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":20,"width":15,"height":170,"diameter":null,"clarification":null}],"medium_display":"Wood and gold leaf","inscriptions":null,"credit_line":"Gift of Richard Faletti, the Faletti Family Collection","catalogue_display":null,"publication_history":"Herbert Cole, Icons: Ideals and Power in the Art of Africa (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989), pp. 30 (ill.).","exhibition_history":"Art Institute of Chicago, Gold of Africa: Jewelry and Ornaments from Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali and Senegal in the collection of the Barbier-Mueller Museum, June 20-August 25, 1991.","provenance_text":"William Wright Gallery, New York, N.Y., by 1986; sold to Richard J. Faletti (died 2006) and Barbara Faletti (died 2000), Chicago, Ill. and Phoenix, Ariz., 1986; given to the Art Institute, 1999.","edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":43,"fiscal_year":2000,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":false,"is_zoomable":true,"max_zoom_window_size":-1,"copyright_notice":null,"has_multimedia_resources":false,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":31.3584,"color":{"h":44,"l":80,"s":85,"percentage":0.0009208252761121672,"population":34},"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"latlon":null,"is_on_view":false,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":null,"gallery_id":null,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Religious\/Ritual Object","artwork_type_id":24,"department_title":"Arts of Africa","department_id":"PC-1","artist_id":29867,"artist_title":"Asante","alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[29867],"artist_titles":["Asante"],"category_ids":["PC-1"],"category_titles":["Arts of Africa"],"term_titles":["gold leaf","asante","ceremonial object","animals","gilding","wood","arts of Africa","Arts of Africa","leaf (metal)","metal","inorganic material","wood (plant material)","plant material","african art","carving","metalworking","ritual objects","african Art","Coastal West Africa"],"style_id":"TM-6280","style_title":"asante","alt_style_ids":["TM-14183","TM-13489","TM-13566"],"style_ids":["TM-6280","TM-14183","TM-13489","TM-13566"],"style_titles":["asante","Arts of Africa","african Art","Coastal West Africa"],"classification_id":"TM-319","classification_title":"ceremonial object","alt_classification_ids":["TM-84","TM-14182","TM-13486","TM-12318"],"classification_ids":["TM-319","TM-84","TM-14182","TM-13486","TM-12318"],"classification_titles":["ceremonial object","wood","arts of Africa","african art","ritual objects"],"subject_id":"TM-12218","alt_subject_ids":[],"subject_ids":["TM-12218"],"subject_titles":["animals"],"material_id":"TM-2425","alt_material_ids":["TM-2426","TM-2568","TM-2600","TM-2431","TM-3478"],"material_ids":["TM-2425","TM-2426","TM-2568","TM-2600","TM-2431","TM-3478"],"material_titles":["gold leaf","leaf (metal)","metal","inorganic material","wood (plant material)","plant material"],"technique_id":"TM-3887","alt_technique_ids":["TM-3863","TM-4152"],"technique_ids":["TM-3887","TM-3863","TM-4152"],"technique_titles":["gilding","carving","metalworking"],"theme_titles":[],"image_id":"8f325ec9-e316-3b4b-a618-aa6b24bc467a","alt_image_ids":[],"document_ids":[],"sound_ids":[],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":[],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1999.376.1-3"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["Linguist Staff with Rooster and Hen (Okyeame Poma)"],"weight":1513,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-06-02T13:08:21-05:00","updated_at":"2026-09-25T10:50:43-05:00","timestamp":"2026-09-26T15:29:41-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. All other data in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) 1.0 designation and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu.","license_links":["https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/","https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/terms"],"version":"1.16"},"config":{"iiif_url":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2","website_url":"http:\/\/www.artic.edu"}}