Object Details
- Label Text
- Kamba artists carve wood stools whose circular seats are supported by three discoid legs. This stool, intricately ornamented with metalwork, is an example of Kamba art at its most richly decorated.
- The metalwork inlay requires a skill that has been mastered by few East African groups. The technique requires that thin brass and copper wire be heated and drawn to the proper diameter, then cooled. The wire is spirally wrapped around a fine wire used as a mandrel, in a machine called kilingi. The mandrel is then withdrawn and the coiled wire is pounded into the surface of the stool seat, which has been wetted to soften it.
- The design itself is first drawn on the stool's seat with the aid of a wire used as a compass, starting at the center and moving to the outer edge. Most of the finished patterns, called milia, have some origin based on the structural framework of a Kamba house, a bead ornament, arrowheads or cattle brands. The patterns on this stool have not been identified. When the ornamentation is completed, holes are bored through the legs of the stool so that a cord or chain can be passed through it. Its owner, usually an elder male, could then carry the stool over his shoulder.
- Description
- Wood stool with a circular seat supported by three disc-shaped legs. The stool is intricately ornamented with inlaid copper alloy and other metal.
- Provenance
- Michael Graham-Stewart, London, -- to 1989
- Exhibition History
- Art of the Personal Object, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 24, 1991-April 9, 2007
- Published References
- Arnold, Marion (ed). 2008. Art in Eastern Africa. Dar es Salaam: Mkuki Na Nyota Publishers, p. 23, no. 0.11.
- Kreamer, Christine Mullen. 2003. " A Tribute to Roy Sieber: Part 2." African Arts 36 (2), pp. 26-27, no. 31.
- National Museum of African Art. 1999. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 160, no. 116.
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Data Source
- National Museum of African Art
- Maker
- Kamba artist
- Date
- Early to mid-20th century
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase
- Medium
- Wood, copper alloys, metal
- Dimensions
- H x W: 13.7 x 24.8 cm (5 3/8 x 9 3/4 in.)
- Type
- Decorative Arts
