High-Backed Stool
Artist: Luguru people
Date: late 19th-early 20th century
Dimensions:
H: 42 1/2 in. (108 cm)
Medium: wood and dark pigment
Place of Origin: Tanganyika (modern Tanzania)
Classification: Furniture
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1994.21
Label Text:Throughout Africa, carved seats of honor are used by rulers and chiefs as symbols of authority and prestige. The carved human head and breasts of this stool extend over the small seat, making it difficult to sit upon. The Luguru use high-backed stools instead to support sacred objects—to represent the location of sacred power, the symbolic presence of an ancestor or other spirit—or to carry on poles in processions as symbols of rank. The triangle pattern carved on the back of the stool is identical to a regional motif called balamwezi, “the rising of the new moon”; it symbolizes hope, recognition, and rebirth.
On view
In Collection(s)