A short wooden baton covered with closely threaded plastic beads in white, green, orange, blue and red.

Maasai rungu are carried by male Maasai warriors and elders as emblems of status, often indicating authority to speak. They originated as throwing clubs, with heads made from extremely hard tree roots. Ceremonial rungu may be embellished gold, silver or ivory, while those made for popular trade are often decorated with coloured beads along the shaft, as here. This example was presented by Nicholas Sironka, a Kenyan-born Maasai artist based in the UK.