Stool

ClassificationsFurnishings-Furniture-stools

Culture Lobi

Date20th Century

Made AtBurkina Faso, Africa

MediumWood

Dimensions4 3/4 × 33 × 6 in. (12.1 × 83.8 × 15.2 cm)

Credit LineGift of Anne and Long Shung Shih

Object number2017.11.50

DescriptionThe Lobi of Burkina Faso created three-legged wooden stools of incredible length for use in the male-run cult societies where these stools were signs of status. The animistic religion of the Lobi also informed their stool design. Though this stool does not have a particular association with an anthropomorphic or zoological figure, many Lobo stools of this variety do. These feature a carved head of either a human or antelope at the raised end of the stool. It was believed that over subsequent generations of these items being passed down from father to son, they became imbued with the power of one’s ancestors or the ability to communicate with them.

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