Cameroonian Wood Stool

Cut from one block of wood. Dished seat on top, open lattice below. In Cameroon a stool was a household furnishing, and in many communities a sign of standing for whoever owned it.

This one is Cameroonian, 20th century, thirteen inches tall and twelve and a half across. The round, slightly dished seat sits above crossing diagonal bands, each scored with parallel grooves and meeting at pointed bosses. All of it rests on a solid ring base. The surface is dark and worn, smoothest on the seat, with lighter wood showing at the edges of the foot.

Sit on it, or set a lamp on it. Either way, it holds.