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Photo: Paul Macapia
Lion Stool
Photo: Paul Macapia

Lion Stool

Dateafter 1957
Label TextTo sit on top of this lion may be read as a symbolic slap in the face of colonial rule. British colonial governors often sat on thrones adorned with lions that had been imported from England. Lions and unicorns were common as insignia of power-images carved into the top of thrones, on flags, and on commercial packaging. In this stool, the independence of Ghana from the British crown is made evident. It recalls a proverb, "Obi te obi so" ("there is always somebody sitting on somebody else").
Object number81.17.545
Photo CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, African Panoplies: Art for Rulers, Traders, Hunters, and Priests, Apr. 21 - Aug. 14, 1988. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Documents International: Reflections in the Mirror: A World of Identity, Apr. 23, 1998 - June 20, 1999. 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. 96-97, reproduced pl. 97. Published ReferencesMcClusky, Pamela. African Art: From Crocodiles to Convertibles in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1987; cat. no. 9, pp. 18-19, reproduced and on cover.
Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
Dimensions16 9/16 x 20 13/16 x 11 7/8 in. (42.1 x 52.9 x 30.2 cm)
MediumWood and paint
Stool ("Mma'Gwa")
Ghanaian
Object number: 81.17.337
Photo: Paul Macapia
Ghanaian
20th century
Object number: 81.17.338
Melanesian
Object number: 81.17.1485
Melanesian
Object number: 81.17.1486
Melanesian
Object number: 81.17.1487
Melanesian
Object number: 81.17.1488
Dan
Object number: 81.17.206
Dan
Object number: 81.17.207
Photo: Paul Macapia
Cameroonian
Object number: 81.17.723
Congolese
Object number: 81.17.795
Stool
Congolese
Object number: 81.17.801
Kihona (stool)
Congolese
Object number: 81.17.876