Collection record · Everyday wonders
Prestige Chair
The collection record classifies this work as furniture and woodwork. It is dated 1800s. Recorded culture or place: Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Babanki-style maker.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Prestige Chair
- Date
- 1800s
- Culture / origin
- Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Babanki-style maker
- Materials and technique
- Wood and paint
- Dimensions
- Overall: 80.7 x 53.3 x 44.5 cm (31 3/4 x 21 x 17 1/2 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1983.33
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
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.
FOLLOW THE SOURCE
Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift in memory of his parents, Wheeler B. and Dorothy Preston by Mary and John Preston · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
Open the complete museum record View the open-access policyTHE VISITOR BOOK
What caught your eye?
Opening the visitor book…
