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Source 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.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
151452
label
Prestige Chair
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
151452
contentType
object
title
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.
date
1800s
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60741217
genreSpecific
Furniture and woodwork
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 80.7 x 53.3 x 44.5 cm (31 3/4 x 21 x 17 1/2 in.)
cul
Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Babanki-style maker
accession
1983.33
Source extras
tec
Wood and paint
tombstone
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
collection
African Art
didYouKnow
A British soldier acquired this work in Cameroon during the First World War.
citations
citation
Turner, Evan H. “Year in Review for 1983.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 71, no. 2 (February 1984): 38–79.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 76, no. 223
citation
Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C. <em>Second Careers : Two Tributaries in African Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019
page_number
Mentioned: p. 34; reproduced: p. 9; p. 35, fig. 24; p. 63, pl. 9.
citation
Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C. <em>Second Careers : Two Tributaries in African Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019
page_number
Mentioned: p. 34; reproduced: p. 9; p. 35, fig. 24; p. 63, pl. 9.
creditline
Gift in memory of his parents, Wheeler B. and Dorothy Preston by Mary and John Preston
sketchfabId
03d10a0ccb254061a8ec77b8cc14b40c
updatedAt
2026-06-18 21:17:46.700000
sourceId
151452
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
Wood and paint
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
757648aca6b85f2d