Ashanti Stool with Male and Female Motif

Two wooden posts, sawtooth along the edges. A low, curved seat laid across them like a bridge. And between them, a seated figure, hands raised, looking out.

This Ashanti stool from Ghana is twentieth century, wood, a little over a foot tall and nearly two feet long. A zigzag is incised along the base. The figure at the center is small and calm. The tone of the wood is a soft, light brown, worn pale along the edges.

Ashanti stools are not furniture in the ordinary sense. They hold a person.

This one holds a little more than most.