Dan Stool / Side Table

A stool that looks back at you, through two pairs of narrowed eyes.

This stool or side table is Dan work from Liberia, West Africa, in carved wood from the 20th century. Across West Africa, a carved stool was more than furniture, often marking the place and standing of its owner in the household or community. A flared, fluted seat rests on a narrow column carved with slit eyes, edged in white. Below, a ridged cone spreads into a band of chevrons at the base. The dark surface is rubbed lighter at the rim of the seat. Twenty inches high and thirteen across.

Sit down if you like. It will notice.