Stool Item Number: 1373/64 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Light-brown coloured stool with upturned rectangular-shaped seat and rectangular-shaped base. Connecting the base and the seat is a rectangular-shaped piece that is decorated with triangular, zigzag and linear designs. The central piece is framed by an open oval-shaped cutout piece that has incised and carved triangular edging and surface engraving.

History Of Use

For the Akan, the stool was used as a symbol of power and political office. In this bureaucratic system, the stool was carved from a single piece of wood and was kept by individual chiefs within the Akan states as a claim to power and land ownership. The stool can be seen as a supernatural entity, which symbolizes the identity of its owner. The designs that are visible on the surface of the stool’s support reflects a specific meaning to its user. The stool of the Asantehene (monarch), their claim to power over the Ashanti nation, is the Golden Stool (Sika Kofi Dwa).