Large Bamileke Spider Stool (Ebonized Wood)
Large Bamileke Spider Stool (Ebonized Wood)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
Beautifully and skillfully hand-carved African furniture, this exquisite example of functional art, this black Bamileke stool is more specifically referred to as Spider stool due to the traditional feature of the “spider’s nest” design. It has entered into the international design consciousness due to its versatility, lending itself for use as a side table, stool or coffee table and its detailed and intricate work of the carvers in Cameroon.
It has been entirely carved from a single block of kola wood, an African hardwood from Cameroon and then ebonized using a customary traditional method.
Celebrated for its unique architectural and functional design, this well-known earth spider design stool is very adaptable indeed.
If you have questions about a particular item or would like to order, please contact Tribal Traces. We are more than happy and willing to answer.
BACKSTORY:
The Bamileke/Graffi are native peoples living in the west and Northwest regions of Cameroon. Bamileke settlements, with their rulers/chiefs known as a fons, consider the fon to be the spiritual, political, judicial and military leader of the chiefdom and he is the main rational behind most artistic creations. Communication with the ancestral world that lies deep within the earth is an important Bamileke belief. Carvings depicting earth spiders, a creature serving as the link between the ancestors and the living is commonplace. This stunning piece features the well-known earth spider (the abstract X pattern), symbolic of divine knowledge and playing a vital role in problem solving.
Routinely, tradition and culture would have it that such major wood carved pieces have the labour shared amongst several people. A first person harvests the wood, another gives the piece it’s rough form, a carver refines the details, a sander smoothens the surface, a polisher/painter/wax-er finishes it off, and finally, a merchant sells the finished item. It goes without saying that sometimes one person may complete more than one of the steps, but working together as a community is a highly valued and social way of doing things amongst the Bamileke people. Due to the accepted practice of soaking the wood, it is in fact considered a somewhat worrying omen if NO cracks appears with time.
PRODUCT DETAILS/SPECIFICATION:
Type of object: Cylindrical wooden stool
Dimensions: Height: 42 - 43 cm, Diameter: 49 - 50 cm, Weight: 8 – 10 kg
Style: Tribal
Geographic origin: Cameroon
Date of manufacture: 2016 - 2018
Period: 21st Century
Materials and techniques: Hand carved Kola wood Ebonized
Condition: Very good - Excellent
Condition/wear/damage details: Generally they are in very good condition. It is usual with tribal pieces that some very minor imperfections and variations in shape and color exist. Please note that due to the nature of the method and wood used to make these stools, it is also absolutely normal and likely for them to develop a crack of some sort at some time in their life. It is part and parcel of the character of the stool and not a fault. Maintaining a constant level of relative humidity in the room would be beneficial.
