Throne

CultureBamileke Chiefdom, Bansoa

Date19th century

MediumWood, glass beads, shells, and fiber

DimensionsOverall: 71 × 26 1/2 × 26 inches (180.34 × 67.31 × 66.04 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust through the George H. and Elizabeth O. Davis Fund

Object number92-13

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

African Art

Terms

DescriptionA carved wooden figure covered with beaded decoration sits atop a leopard stool which forms the backrest of a larger stool supported by a leopard. Both leopards are decorated with blue beads with white beaded spots.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

This throne exhibits mandu-yene, the "richness of beads" emblematic of royal prestige. It is embellished with thousands of European glass beads and cowry shells stitched onto a cloth base. Stools supported by images of leopards, as this example is, symbolize a king's fearsome, political and supernatural powers. The royal ancestor figure forming the throne's back wears a prestige cap, chevron-bead necklace, loincloth and European officer's coat, adopted as a symbol of rank and status. Seated on this throne, the king was literally embraced by the outstretched arms of his royal ancestor, signifying the continuity of dynastic authority and the king's connection with the spiritual ancestral world.

Provenance

Fomene, paramount ruler of Bansoa, Cameroon, by 1957-1977 [1];

Purchased from the Bansoa chief by the dealer Martial Bronsin, Brussels, Belgium, 1977 [2];

Purchased from Bronsin by the dealer Louis de Strycker, Brussels, Belgium, by July 1990-1992;

Purchased from de Strycker by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1992.

NOTES:

[1] The throne was photographed in Cameroon by Pierre Harter in 1957. See Pierre Harter, Arts anciens du Cameroun (Arnouville: Arts d’Afrique Noire, 1986), 69.

[2] A handwritten statement of sale, made by the Bansoa chief and dated September 18, 1977, is in the NAMA curatorial file.

Published References

“Bamileke,” in Georges Balandier and Jacques Maquet, Dictionary of Black African Civilization (New York: Leon Amiel, 1974), 44-46, (repro.).

“An Afternoon of Art,” Kansas City Star Preview (October 29, 1983), G-1, G15-G16, (repro.).

Pierre Harter, Arts anciens du Cameroun (Arnouville: Arts d’Afrique Noire, 1986), 69, (repro.).

Newsletter (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, November 1993), cover, 2, (repro.).

Joyce M. Youmans, “African Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,” African Arts 33, no. 4 (Winter 2000), 49, 60-61 (repro.).

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 246, (repro.).

Julian Zugazagoitia and Laura Spencer. Director's Highlights: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Celebrating 90 Years, ed. Kaitlyn Bunch (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024), 129, (repro.).

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.