Senufo Wood Stool, Ivory Coast

A plain, honest seat, shaped by decades of sitting.

Senufo carvers of the Ivory Coast, West Africa, made this stool in wood in the 20th century. Senufo stools are commonly carved from a single block and used as everyday seats, and some are linked with the status of their owners. The wide seat dips in a shallow saddle with a softly curved outline and a pale, dry surface. It rests on two thick, rounded supports of weathered brown wood, one slightly scarred and with a shallow carved face or notch on one side. The grain is visible throughout.

About twelve inches high and nineteen wide. Sit on it, put a plant on it, or just admire the curve.