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Source Description
This <em>citwamo ca mangu</em> chair bears over 40 sculpted figures arranged in complex compositions across the chair’s top rail (back), stretchers (rungs), and legs; all symbolize the power of Chokwe supreme chiefs. Such chairs typically bear a dozen or fewer figures. Scenes of royal life and power wrap around the seat, reinforcing how the chief and his family are at the center of their polity and its business.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
678264
label
Ceremonial Chair or Throne (citwamo ca mangu)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
678264
contentType
object
title
Ceremonial Chair or Throne (citwamo ca mangu)
description
This <em>citwamo ca mangu</em> chair bears over 40 sculpted figures arranged in complex compositions across the chair’s top rail (back), stretchers (rungs), and legs; all symbolize the power of Chokwe supreme chiefs. Such chairs typically bear a dozen or fewer figures. Scenes of royal life and power wrap around the seat, reinforcing how the chief and his family are at the center of their polity and its business.
date
1800s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Furniture and woodwork
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 107 x 55 x 55 cm (42 1/8 x 21 5/8 x 21 5/8 in.)
cul
Africa, Central Africa, Angola, Chokwe-style carver
accession
2024.14
Source extras
tec
Wood, upholstery studs, leather
tombstone
Ceremonial Chair or Throne (citwamo ca mangu), 1800s. Africa, Central Africa, Angola, Chokwe-style carver. Wood, upholstery studs, leather; overall: 107 x 55 x 55 cm (42 1/8 x 21 5/8 x 21 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 2024.140
collection
African Art
didYouKnow
Starting around the 1500s, Chokwe and other African leaders and traders received fine chairs as gifts from Portuguese traders. Chokwe leaders adapted this symbol of power as their own, using it in tandem with stools, an earlier kind of prestige seat.
citations
citation
"New on View.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine </em>66, no. 1 (2026): back cover.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: back cover
creditline
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
sketchfabId
d72f5cf4c8e24daca0de504f342b8cf1
updatedAt
2026-06-18 21:18:16.832000
sourceId
678264
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
Wood, upholstery studs, leather
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
7900659ad949b3b2