African Tribal Nupe stool Nigeria, early to mid 20th Century
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African Tribal Nupe stool Nigeria, early to mid 20th Century
NUPE TRIBE, Nigeria
Nupe stool, Nigeria early to mid 20th Century
Hand carved and decorated wood with a rich developed brown black patina.
This finely hand carved African stool was created by the Nupe tribe of Nigeria. The stool is carved from one piece of wood with intricate refined geometric patterns carved into the top and has seven tapered legs.
Benin Bronze Head of King Oba, African, Nigeria 20th Century
NIGERIA
Benin Head of King Oba, c. early to mid-20th Century
Lost wax cast bronze with a rich brown and black patina with light desert sand patina in some of the recessed areas.
The art of Benin is the product of an urban royal court, and is meant to symbolize and to extol the power, mystique, grandeur, continuity, and endurance of the ruling dynasty and its governing institutions. From the 14th century until its fall in 1897, Benin was ruled by the Oba, a divine ruler at the head of the political system of titled chiefs. Under royal support, a number of craftsman’s guilds produced bronze, brass, and wood sculptures and embroidered cloth, all of which have become prized by museums and collectors.
These heads were typically placed on altars dedicated to each of the past Oba’s of Benin. The altars are semicircular mud platforms that have been packed hard and rubbed smooth and are located in open courtyards of the palace. The royal altars are the settings for one of the two most important rites of divine kingship in Benin, Ugie Erha Oba, when the Oba honors the spirit of his late father and performs sacrifices to the royal ancestors and to the earth in which they are buried. Acknowledging his role as his fathers’ successor, the chiefs pay homage to the king and greet him in order of seniority. The rite expresses the continuity of divine kingship, and the altar before which it takes place provides the means by which the connection between the living king and his predecessors was established and made.
Liberty & Co. / Leonard Wyburd Egyptian Revival Four-Legged Oak Thebes Stool c. 1890-1895
Leonard Wyburd UK
Liberty & Company London
Four-legged Thebes stool circa 1890-95. Oak with highly figured grain, concave slat seat, turned details.
Marks: 4 (impressed on underside)
This design was registered by Liberty & Co. in 1884.
Related Liberty & Co. stools illustrated: Liberty’s 1875-1975 : An Exhibition to Mark the Firm’s Centenary (London: Victoria & Albert Museum, 1975) p. 35, illustr. C1, Liberty Design, 1874-1914 , Barbara Morris (London: Octopus Publishing Group:, 1989) p. 103; Egyptomania: Egypt in Western Art, 1730-1930 (Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux and Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1994), pp. 465-66.
H: 15″ x D: 17″ x W: 17″
One of the driving influences of the Aesthetic Movement of the late 19th century was an informed interest in authentic ancient designs inspired by recent archaeological discoveries. Both the three and four-legged Thebes stool were inspired by actual furniture and wall paintings unearthed from royal tombs in the ancient Egyptian city for which they are named. Leonard Wyburd, who was one of the principal designers for Liberty, patented his designs for the Thebes stools in 1884. Liberty & Co. continued to make the popular stools into the early 1900’s.
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