© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

ClassificationsAfrican Art

Prestige Stool with Four Male Figures and a Leopard

Place CreatedCameroon, Africa

CultureBabanki

Date1940s

MediumWood

Credit LineEx coll. William S. Arnett

Dimensions16 3/4 x 16 3/4 x 16 15/16 in. (42.5 x 42.5 x 43 cm)

Object number1994.004.502

Label TextThroughout West Africa stools are intimately associated with their owners, so much so that they are often buried with them after death. Furthermore, to assume the seated position is a source of power and evidence of ones authority. In the Grassfields region of Cameroon, elite stools are carved with elaborate openwork incorporating human and or animal images in the form of caryatids (standing supports). These figures serve as symbols of support for the owner of the stool. Here the artist has incorporated the image of a leopard. The king (fon), beleived to have the ability to transform himself into a leopard, also can be addressed by the title "leopard." The repesentation of the leopard in the stool displays its awesome power with its bared teeth and, in turn, transfers that power to the owner.
Exhibition HistoryCameroon Art: Selections from the Collection of William Arnett, The Art Gallery, Kennesaw State College, Kennesaw, Georgia, January 30 - March 22, 1989
MCCM Permanent Collection Installation, Rotation 3, September 26, 1998 - Spring 2003
Published ReferencesMarcilene K. Wittmer, Cameroon: An Exhibition of African Art from the Collection of William and Robert Arnett (Charlotte, NC: Mint Museum, 1977), 39, number 59.
Cameroon Art: Selections from the Collection of William Arnett (Kennesaw: The Art Gallery, Kennesaw State College, 1989), title page.

ProvenanceEx coll. William S. Arnett (1939-2020), Atlanta, Georgia, by 1977.

Status

Not on view

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