This ceremonial walking staff is sculpted from a single continuous hardwood branch, showcasing an interlocking narrative that integrates three stacked ancestral faces with a wrapping serpent motif. The artisan utilized high-relief carving techniques to morph the natural contours of the wood into fluid structural elements.The apex of the staff begins with an open-mouthed, fanged serpent head featuring a fully detailed, hollowed-out interior cavity. As the serpent's body winds down the length of the upper pole, its anatomy integrates into the figures; the deeply carved scales and ribbed underbelly physically form the stylized headdresses, headrests, and brow lines for the sequence of stacked faces.Toward the midsection, the composition utilizes a natural fork in the branch to execute a complex dual-shaft layout. One side carries the structural line of the staff through deeply chiseled geometric scrollwork. The parallel side extends outward to support a fully sculpted, hollowed-out ceremonial pipe bowl. The serpent’s tail completes its descent by transforming directly into the stem of this pipe, which emerges from the mouth of the third ancestral face. The lower half of the staff concludes the narrative with segmented ribbing, and geometric tribal markings tapering down to a sturdy, flat point.

SURFACE, PATINA & TECHNICAL ANALYSIS:
The staff features a rich, aged patina with dark pigments precisely wiped into the deeply recessed carvings to accentuate the high-relief geometry and shadow depth.Under ultraviolet (UV) light examination, the surface reveals a highly sophisticated, targeted dual-organic finish mapping. The main wood body, ancestral faces, and lower geometric columns display a characteristic chalky lime-green/greenish-gray fluorescence typical of aged regional plant-resin lacquers. In stark contrast, the continuous serpent elements—specifically the ribbed underbelly, scaled collar, and the entirety of the pipe stem and bowl—fluoresce an intense, bright milky-amber/peach tone.This behavior demonstrates a deliberate, technical application of two separate organic finishes by the artisan to visually isolate the spirit-animal narrative from the ancestral figures. Recessed shadows remain completely non-reactive under UV. No modern signatures, maker's marks, or stamps are present that i have managed to discern. I have sent out for a few big auction houses and this listing will remain active untill one of them reaches out or somebody beats them to it. make no mistake this is a one of a kind treasure , I can truly attest to the rapture it invokes. In person the craftsmanship is breathtaking.
Putting the business aspect to the side and leveling on a personal note it truly is beautiful to behold. I could stare at it for hours.