A Yaure Staff, collected in Beomi, Cote d’Ivoire, with a lion on the apex. glossy patina, signs of ritual use and age. The Yaure staff is an important ceremonial object within the material culture of the Yaure people of central Côte d’Ivoire, closely tied to expressions of authority, social mediation, and spiritual legitimacy. The Yaure, who share historical and cultural connections with neighboring Akan-speaking groups such as the Baule, developed sculptural traditions that emphasize the visible articulation of power and moral order. Within this context, the staff functions as a symbolic extension of leadership rather than as a practical implement, embodying the right to command, adjudicate, and represent the community. Yaure staffs are generally carved from wood and frequently distinguished by elaborate figurative finials. These sculptural elements often depict standing human figures, sometimes accompanied by animals or symbolic motifs. The figures are typically rendered with elongated proportions, frontal orientation, and a sense of controlled stillness, qualities that align with Yaure aesthetic ideals of dignity, composure, and social maturity. Facial features may be stylized yet expressive, underscoring the importance of clarity, wisdom, and self-possession in those who wield authority. In social and political contexts, the staff serves as a visible marker of office. Chiefs, elders, or appointed representatives carry staffs during public gatherings, legal proceedings, and ceremonial events, where the object signals their sanctioned role as speakers or decision-makers. The staff authorizes speech and action, transforming personal authority into a collectively recognized mandate. In this way, it operates as a performative object, activating power through display and movement rather than through force. The Yaure staff also carries religious and cosmological significance. Figurative imagery may reference ancestors or spiritual entities believed to guide and protect the community. By invoking these forces, the staff links present authority to ancestral precedent and spiritual sanction, reinforcing continuity across generations. Its efficacy lies not only in its carved form but in its ritual activation and the shared cultural understanding of its meaning. Art historically, Yaure staffs exemplify the integration of sculpture, politics, and belief that characterizes many West African artistic traditions. They resist interpretation as purely aesthetic objects, instead demanding consideration of their social function and performative context. When removed from their original settings and placed in museum collections, Yaure staffs continue to communicate ideals of leadership and moral authority, though their full significance remains rooted in the cultural systems that produced and sustained them. References Susan Mullin Vogel, Art and Life in Africa. Denis M. Warren, The Akan Worldview. Patrick R. McNaughton, The Mande Blacksmiths and Their Influence on West African Art. CAB29138