Lot: 402

77th tribal art auction

Stool

Cameroon Grassfields, Bamileke

Provenance Size Starting price / estimated price
American Private Collection H: 13.4 inch;
D: 11.8 inch
sold

wood, shiny brown patina, circular form, tribe-typical facial features and headgears, min. dam., cracks (seat, base, neck, arm), slight traces of abrasion;
in the Cameroon Grassfields stools are important regalia of the chief. The open worked base is typical for this region. The leopard embodies certain attributes like velocity, survivability and aggressiveness which were transfered on the king. So he became the most important royal symbol, like an "alter ego" of the king.


Northern, Tamara, The Art of Cameroon, Washington D.C. 1984, p. 104 f.