Prestige Chair
1800s
Maker Unknown
African Art
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.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift in memory of his parents, Wheeler B. and Dorothy Preston by Mary and John Preston 1983.33 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.
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.
- Maker/Artist
- Maker Unknown
- Classification
- Furniture and woodwork
- Formatted 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.)
- Departments
- African Art
- Accession Number
- 1983.33
- Credit Line
- Gift in memory of his parents, Wheeler B. and Dorothy Preston by Mary and John Preston
- Exhibitions
- The Year in Review for 1983, Second Careers: Two Tributaries in African Art, CMA 1984: "Year in Review 1983," Bulletin, 71 (February 1984), p. 76, no. 223
- Rights Statement
- CC0
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