The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 3, 2023

Stool

by 1928

Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mangbetu-style maker

Wood

Diameter: 39.1 cm (15 3/8 in.); Overall: 28.6 cm (11 1/4 in.)

Gift of the Gilpin Players of Karamu House 1929.320

Location

not on view

Description

Such stools were highly prized by their female owners. Sculpted by master artists with widespread reputations, they were often "signed" with a deeply cut mark on the base. This groove was then filled with red camwood as an expression of blessings and good wishes for the stool's owner.

Provenance
until 1928
Queen (name unrecorded) 1
1928
The African Art Sponsors and the Gilpin Players 2
1928
Acquired by Paul Travis on behalf of the African Art Sponsors and the Gilpin Players in Ekibondo, Democratic Republic of the Congo (then-Belgian Congo) 3
1929–
The Cleveland Museum of Art by gift

Provenance Footnotes

1 Boger, Ann C. et al. Paul B. Travis Africa 1927-1928. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. PP. 32–35, 47. Illustrated in 1928 Travis photograph p. 34
2 12/3/1928 letter to the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History from Hazel Mountain Walker (Gilpin Players, president) and Harry E. Davis (African Art Sponsors, president) reproduced on p. 54 of Adams, Henry et al. Paul Travis 1891-1975. Cleveland Artists Foundation, 2001.
3 Boger, Ann C. et al. Paul B. Travis Africa 1927-1928. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. PP. 32–35, 47.
Citations
Wixom, WIlliam D. "African Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art." African Arts. 10, no. 3. (April 1977) 16-25. Mentioned: p. 16; p. 18, fig. 3 www.jstor.org
Petridis, Constantijn, et al. Fragments of the Invisible: The René and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. Cleveland, Ohio : Cleveland Museum of art ; Milan : 5 Continents Editions, 2013. Mentioned: p. 107
Petridis, Constantine. "A World of Great Art for Everyone." In Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display. Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Christa Clarke, 104-121. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011. Mentioned: p. 106; reproduced: p. 107, figs. 5.2, 5.3
Exhibition history

Cleveland, OH, Karamu House: Arfican Art, March 1-May 30, 1960.

CMA 1987: Comfortably Seated, November 11-February 15, 1987, no cat.

CMA 1991: Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum, June 7-September 8, 1991.

African Art. Karamu House, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 30, 1960).

Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.320