Ethiopian Bench with Plaited Leather Seat

Two lions face each other across the back of a bench, under a spray of red crosses.

This bench with a plaited leather seat comes from Ethiopia, East Africa, and dates to the late 19th or early 20th century. It is painted wood and leather. Long benches like this served prominent Ethiopian households as seats for honored guests and elders, and the lion and the cross are long-standing emblems of the country's Christian culture. Between them on the backrest are dark leaf-shaped trees, with panels of zigzag and diamond at either end. The seat is a wide lattice of dark leather straps. A single arm joins the post at one end. Seventy-three inches long.

Sit up straight. The lions are watching.