The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Dark brown wood chair with red undertones and a cylindrical base created by three rows of angular carved faces. Between each face in a row is a hollow space and between each row an undulating strip of wood. Above this, the chair's back is flanked by stylized leopards ridden by human-like figures. The leopards are speckled with concave spots and the profile of another leopard, facing our left, supports the square back of the chair.

Prestige Chair

1800s

Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Babanki-style maker

Wood and paint
Overall: 80.7 x 53.3 x 44.5 cm (31 3/4 x 21 x 17 1/2 in.)
Gift in memory of his parents, Wheeler B. and Dorothy Preston by Mary and John Preston 1983.33
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

A British soldier acquired this work in Cameroon during the First World War.

Description

This stately chair attributed to the Babanki peoples of the Cameroon Grassfields features an unusual configuration of male and female figures. They are mounted on stylized leopards, animals revered as embodiments of power and royalty, which stand atop a base of three undulating rings bearing 24 heads. Chairs like this one serve as visual records that help mark kingships through the ages, conveying power and authority. The chair type was relatively common at the time; they were carved for sale to Europeans and local patrons, and also used as articles of royal gift exchange.
  • c. 1914–1918
    Wheeler B. Preston by field collection, German Cameroons during World War I
    by at least 1983
    Mr. and Mrs. John (Mary) Preston, Concord, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1983-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth. Second Careers: Two Tributaries in African Art. P. 34
  • Turner, Evan H. “Year in Review for 1983.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 2 (February 1984): 38–79. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 76, no. 223 www.jstor.org
    Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Second Careers : Two Tributaries in African Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019 Mentioned: p. 34; reproduced: p. 9; p. 35, fig. 24; p. 63, pl. 9.
    Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Second Careers : Two Tributaries in African Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019 Mentioned: p. 34; reproduced: p. 9; p. 35, fig. 24; p. 63, pl. 9.
  • Second Careers: Two Tributaries in African Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1, 2020-March 14, 2021).
    The Year in Review for 1983. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 22-April 8, 1984).
    CMA 1984: "Year in Review 1983," Bulletin, 71 (February 1984), p. 76, no. 223
  • {{cite web|title=Prestige Chair|url=false|author=|year=1800s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1983.33