Baton Of Justice Or Of The Dogon Thief Mali

Rare Dogon justice baton with a superb oily patina of use, length 67 cm, end of the 19 e century or beginning of the last century .
A very similar model at the Barois Museum => HERE

Interesting text borrowed from the Pompidou Center: Justice batons were used by the Dogon and their neighbors the Bozo living in the region of Sévaré, near Mopti, in Mali. The inhabitants of these regions called these objects "thieves' sticks". According to testimonies collected on site, this stick was handed over after judgment, during a dispute over the ownership of a property. The person carrying the "thieves' stick" on their shoulder had the right to come and go as they pleased and to enter wherever they pleased in order to recover the property that had been stolen from them. He was reputed to be invisible and no one would ever have dared to call out to him, or even raise their head to prevent him from doing what the customary judgment had commanded him to do.
See => HERE