African Arts Gallery

Ex. Canadian collection of African tribal art An old small-sized single-stool stool that can be used as a pedestal table, called rü mfo by the Bamum. The carved wood is covered, above a raffia cloth, with a lattice of beads and cowries. This two-tone example is distinguished by its animal caryatid. Beads are unstitched and missing.
Located in the border region of Nigeria, the North-West province of Cameroon, Grassland is made up of several ethnic groups: Tikar, Anyang, Widekum, Chamba, Bamoun or Bamum and Bamileke. Several centralized chiefdoms, or kingdoms, based on customary associations, secret societies, are organized around the Fon who has broad powers. Among the Bamiléké of Sudano-Bantu origin, as in other ethnic groups, art objects testified to the place of their owner in society. The seats, whose ornamentation varied according to social status, were carved for everyday use or for meetings of Customary Societies. (The Bamiléké, R. Lecoq)