The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 14, 2022

Prestige stool (Kuo)

possibly 1800s

Africa, Central Africa, Cameroon, Bandjoun Kingdom, Bamileke makers

Wood, cotton, plant fiber, glass beads, and indigo

Overall: 51 x 38 x 43 cm (20 1/16 x 14 15/16 x 16 15/16 in.)

Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2006.138

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

In the Cameroon Grassfields region of central Africa, powerful animal imagery was associated with the wealth and prestige of rulers. This stool incorporates a ferocious leopard. It was once owned by the rulers (<em>fon</em>) of the Bandjoun Kingdom, including Fon Kamga II Joseph (r. 1925–75).

Description

Bead-covered wooden stools and thrones are one of the most prevalent art forms among the various kingdoms and chiefdoms in the Cameroon Grassfields region. This example, once part of the royal treasury, belongs in the category of "travel stools," usually used in conjunction with more private, minor ceremonies and rituals at the palace. The leopard imagery confirms the object’s royal status. It alludes to the belief that the king could temporarily transform himself into this feared predator.

Provenance
19th century
Possibly Fon (King) Fosto I and Fon Fosto II, Bandjoun Kingdom, Cameroon
by at least 1925-
Fon Kamga II Joseph (1902-1975; r. 1925-1975), Bandjoun Kingdom, Cameroon by descent from the above
1925
possibly Rev. Frank Christol, by gift from the above
before 1940 (perhaps earlier) to 1974
Charles Ratton, Paris, France
1974-?
Charles-François Ratton (son of Charles), Paris
Bernard Dulon, Paris, France 1
Yves Devlon 2
-2006
Private collection, Paris by purchase from Yves Devlon (sold on their behalf by Galerie Bernard Dulon, Paris, France, to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 3
2006-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Provenance Footnotes

1 Email with Galerie Bernard Dulon, 2/23/2021; CMA Curatorial File.
2 Email with Galerie Bernard Dulon, 2/23/2021; CMA Curatorial File.
3 Email with Galerie Bernard Dulon, 2/23/2021; CMA Curatorial File.
Citations
Franklin, David. The Cleveland Museum of Art. London: Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd., 2012. Reproduced: p. 56 - 57
"The Language of Beauty in African Art." Kimbell Art Museum Members' Guide (March–September 2022): 2-7. Reproduced: P. 3.
Exhibition history

Pierre Harter, Arts anciens du Cameroun (Arnouville: Arts d'Afrique Noire, 1986), p. 280 (reproduces the field-photograph Father Frank Christol made in 1925, the original of which is preserved in the archives of the Musée de l'Homme, Paris).

Pierre Harter, Les Rois sculpteurs, exh. cat. (Paris: RMN, 1993), p. 61.

Jean-Paul Notue & Bianca Triaca, Bandjoun (Milan: 5 Continets, 2005), p. 54.

Bettina von Lintig, Cameroun, exh. cat. (Paris: Galerie Bernard Dulon, 2006), p. 125-26 (field photo), 127-29 (object as such).

The Language of Beauty in African Art. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (April 3-July 31, 2022) https://kimbellart.org/exhibition/language-beauty-african-art; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (November 10, 2022-February 27, 2023) https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/9344/the-language-of-beauty-in-african....

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2006.138