Medium-sized Bamileke Spider Stool (Maroon Toned Wood)
Medium-sized Bamileke Spider Stool (Maroon Toned Wood)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
Hand-made wooden Bamileke stool from Cameroon, carved from one continuos piece of wood, each stool features the renowned “spider’s nest” design. It can equally be a stool as it can be a table - as the use is up you. It has become a favourite of decorators and designers around the world as well as anyone who wanting to feel distinguished just owning one! It is an elegant example of functional art.
This stool is made of tropical Cameroonian Kola hardwood and then toned by painting it with decorative chalk paint followed by a coat of non-gloss varnish which seals the paint and leaves a silky finish, giving it a dreamy, matt look. This stool has a crack that has been artistically painted volcanic grey for contrast. It is absolutely normal and likely for these stools to develop a crack of some sort. The decision was taken, contrary to common practice when these stools are sold in the west, not to fill in the crack but instead to emphasize it as opposed to hiding it. It is part and parcel of the character of the stool and not a fault: In fact, one awaits a crack or two.
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 labor 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: 40/41 cm, Diameter: 37/38 cm, Weight: 5 kg
Style: Tribal
Geographic origin: Cameroon
Date of manufacture: 2017
Period: 21st Century
Materials and techniques: Hand carved Kola wood, Painted and varnished
Condition: Good
Condition/wear/damage details: Generally in good condition. It is cracked but this is usual with tribal pieces due to the nature of the method and wood used to make these stools. It is part and parcel of the character of the stool and not a fault.
