A beautiful ancient male anthropomorphic waaga pole, an idealized image of the deceased displaying the classic attributes of his high rank: multi-row necklace, sagittal crested headdress and phallic kallaache ornament. The facial features blend with the grain of the deeply eroded wood, accentuating the strength and singular significance of the effigy. Among the Konso, a people of farmers and hunters, social organization was structured by the Gada rank society. Waaga effigies were carved in honor of warriors who had reached the highest rank. The erection of these posts at the entrance to the village had a protective but above all ostentatious character, reaffirming the social status of the deceased and ensuring him or her an identical position in the afterlife. See two very similar statues from the former Kerchache collection, one of which is now in the Musée du Quai Branly (inv. no. 70.2001.4.1). Konso, Ethiopia Wood, age-related cracks and gouges, minor wear and minor scratches, very fine oxidation, extensive age-related erosion of the wood. H. 187.5 cm Provenance : Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels Marc Blanpain Collection, Brussels Publications and exhibitions: Van der Stappen, Aethopia, Objets d'Ethiopie, Annales Sciences Humaines, vol.151, 1996, p. 53, ref. 97, Tervuren, Royal Museum for Central Africa, March-September 1996, Amsterdam, Koninklijk Institut voor de Tropen, May 10-October 16, 1997 Grunne (de), Dreams of Beauty: African Sculptures from the Blanpain Collection, 2005, no. 94, Luxembourg, Banque Générale du Luxembourg, October 25-December 2, 2005 Dartevelle et Plisnier, Pierre Dartevelle et les Arts Premiers. Mémoire et Continuité, Vol. II, 2021, p. 536. Fig. 690 Giquello, Paris, Blanpain Collection, December 6, 2024, no. 70