Images(3)

Leopard stool

Date20th century

Label TextIn a taut crouch like a feline ready to pounce, this leopard is barely contained between the circle bases of this stool. Leopards head the list of royal alter egos. It is said that a leopard sleeps with one eye open lest any movement escape its attention. The same quality is claimed for sacred kings, with whom the leopard is associated.

Object number81.17.725

Provenance[Galerie Concorde, Los Angeles, California]; purchased from gallery by Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1978; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981

Exhibition HistorySeattle, 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]). Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Lessons from the Institute of Empathy, Mar. 31, 2018 - ongoing.

Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

Dimensions14 3/4 x 11 9/16 in. (37.4 x 29.4 cm)

MediumWood