Cameroonian Wood Stool

It looks woven, until you remember that wood does not weave.

This stool comes from Cameroon in Central Africa and dates to the 20th century, in carved wood. In Cameroon, carved stools have long been more than somewhere to sit, carrying associations with status, family and court life, and carvers often made a showpiece of the supporting drum. Here that drum is a basket of square blocks, stepped row upon row with light passing through the gaps. A wide rounded seat with a slight dish tops it, and a thick ring forms the base. The surface is a dry gray brown. Seventeen inches high and fourteen and a half across.

Basket makers have reason to feel uneasy.