Superb Dinka Dance Staff

This well-balanced club from the Dinka People of South Sudan would have been used in ceremonial dances, but equally could have been used in conflict if required.

It is carved from a single piece of dense hardwood, has a superb dark and lustrous patina. It is fluted along the main body of the shaft. The grip end is sheafed in woven basketry and has a superb patina commensurate with the rest of the club.

The club is notable for the beautiful pattern of the wood grain visible along the shaft.

This actual example is illustrated in Ginzberg (2000, p. 200).

Other examples can be found in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.

The Dinka people are an ethnic group inhabiting South Sudan. Largely, they are agri-pastoral people, and are known for their cattle herding. They also grow millet and other grains. Traditionally, their political organisation has been restricted to a number of interlinked clans without any central authority.

The club was in the Marc Ginzburg Collection (and as mentioned, published in a book on that collection). Later it was acquired by Sheikh Saud bin Muhammed Al Thani of Qatar, a profligate collector. The Sheikh passed away in 2014.