Prestige Chair

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.

Provenance

Wheeler B. Preston by field collection, German Cameroons during World War I (c. 1914–1918); Mr. and Mrs. John (Mary) Preston, Concord, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art (by at least 1983); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1983-)

Prestige Chair

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1800s

Accession Number

1983.33

Medium

Wood and paint

Dimensions

Overall: 80.7 x 53.3 x 44.5 cm (31 3/4 x 21 x 17 1/2 in.)

Classification

Furniture and woodwork

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Gift in memory of his parents, Wheeler B. and Dorothy Preston by Mary and John Preston