Prowling leopards appear in perpetual motion on this chair. Never pausing, they circle the seat of the ruler who becomes surrounded with restless energy. A leopard seat was reserved for royalty, since leopards were admired for their strength, speed, and ferocity and so were kings. The armchair-style seat was carved in Cameroon during the long period of British and French colonial administration (ca. 1918-1960).
Wood
32 1/2 x 20 1/2 in. (82.6 x 52.1 cm)
Diam.: 22 3/4 in.
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.722
Photo: Paul Macapia
Not currently on view
Resources
Exhibition HistoryLos Angeles, California, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, African Art in Motion: Icon and Act, Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 1974 (Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, May 5 - Sept. 22, 1974). Text by Robert Farris Thompson. No cat. no., pp. 87-89, reproduced pls. 118a, 118b (as throne).
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, Feb. 7 - May 19, 2002 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Oct. 2, 2004 - Jan. 2, 2005; Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Feb. 12 - June 19, 2005; Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Oct. 8, 2005 - Jan. 1, 2006; Nashville, Tennessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Jan. 27 - Apr. 30, 2006 [as African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back]). Text by Pamela McClusky. No cat. no., pp. 50-51, reproduced pl. 27 (as Throne).
Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.
