Artwork Page for Prestige stool (Kuo fo)

Details / Information for Prestige stool (Kuo fo)

Prestige stool (Kuo fo)

possibly 1800s

Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Bandjoun Kingdom, Bamileke makers

Medium
Wood, cotton, plant fiber, glass beads, and indigo
Measurements
Overall: 51 x 38 x 43 cm (20 1/16 x 14 15/16 x 16 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2006.138
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

The beads on this stool were sewn on by hand. Look underneath the stool, however, and you can see commercially made printed fabric.

Description

Bead-covered wooden stools and thrones are one of the most prevalent art forms among the various kingdoms and chiefdoms in the Cameroon Grassfields region. This example, once part of the royal treasury, belongs in the category of "travel stools," usually used in conjunction with more private, minor ceremonies and rituals at the palace. The leopard imagery confirms the object’s royal status. It alludes to the belief that the king could temporarily transform himself into this feared predator.
Stool with a four-legged creature standing on one disc and supporting another decorated with cylindrical red beads and a few indigo. The creature is primarily covered in squat and round pale blue and indigo beads, with square patterns on the legs and face and zig-zag patterns on the body. The creature has round ears protruding from the top of its head, eyes made of circles of white beads, and an open mouth with red beads.

Prestige stool (Kuo fo)

possibly 1800s

Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Bandjoun Kingdom, Bamileke makers

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