Object Details
- Label Text
- This three-legged stool is a masterpiece of design. From a single piece of wood, the sculptor has created a complex composition consisting of three curved swags, each braced by a vertical curved leg. An intricate interior space in the stool support is produced by the relationship between the curves of the legs. The stool's proportions, complex design and refined technique clearly mark it as the work of a master sculptor.
- Because of its complexity, this stool was most likely owned by a leader or a person of high rank or status. Stools are associated with the leadership of a lineage within a clan among the Kwere peoples. Before the period of colonial rule, clans provided the basis of governance, for there was no centralized authority. Each lineage was a separate social and political entity. Ascent to leadership was made in a ceremony that is a form of initiation. It included a period of isolation, after which the leader was carried to and placed upon a stool, and his new name and status were publicly announced.
- Description
- Circular wood stool with three legs each dividing into three part horn-like supports.
- Provenance
- Tambaran Gallery, New York, -- to 1994
- Exhibition History
- From Baga to Yoruba: Treasures of African Art, Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw, Michigan, November 5, 2006-January 28, 2007
- The Earth Moves - We Follow: Celebrating African Art, Frank H. McClung Museum, Knoxville, January 10-May 18, 2003
- Art of the Personal Object, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 24, 1991-April 9, 2007
- 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 Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks.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
- Kwere artist
- Date
- Early to mid-20th century
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase
- Medium
- Wood
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 37.3 x 40.8 x 40.8 cm (14 11/16 x 16 1/16 x 16 1/16 in.)
- Type
- Decorative Arts
