The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

Stool

Stool

by 1928
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.
  • until 1928
    Queen (name unrecorded)
    1928
    The African Art Sponsors and the Gilpin Players
    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)
    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. 
  • 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
  • Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
    CMA 1991: Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum, June 7-September 8, 1991.
    CMA 1987: Comfortably Seated, November 11-February 15, 1987, no cat.
    African Art. Karamu House, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 30, 1960).
    Cleveland, OH, Karamu House: Arfican Art, March 1-May 30, 1960.
  • {{cite web|title=Stool|url=false|author=|year=by 1928|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

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