H x W x D: 76.5 x 42.4 x 48.9 cm (30 1/8 x 16 11/16 x 19 1/4 in.)
Type:
Decorative Arts
Geography:
Ghana
Date:
Late 19th-early 20th century
Label Text:
Chairs among the Asante are royal or chiefly regalia and are used on state occasions. Derived from 17th-century European prototypes, they lack the spiritual symbolism of stools but do convey prestige. The number of chairs and the degree of elaboration vary with of importance of the ruler. The asipim is the most common. The name means "I stand firm," a reference both to its own sturdy construction and the stability of the ruler.
Description:
Low armless chair with slightly inclined backrest with arched top and cast copper alloy finials. The back and seat are of stretched leather attached with brass upholstery tacks. The wood frame is decorated with upholstery tacks, bosses and strips of sheet brass.
Provenance:
Bud C. Holland, Chicago, -- to 1993
Tom and Rita Bakos, Harrisburg, 1993 to 2000
Exhibition History:
The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, April 15 to August 12, 2018
BIG/small, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., January 17-July 23, 2006
Published References:
Walker, Roslyn A. 2018. The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana. Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art. illustrated p. 89
Hoffman, Ronald. 2007. "'The Bloody Writing is For Ever Torn': Domestic and International Consequences of the First Governmental Efforts to Abolish the Atlantic Slave Trade." Conference DVD set (August 8-12, Accra and Elmina, Ghana). Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.
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