Cameroonian Wood Stool

A wide, shallow dish of a seat, on legs like roots.

Cameroonian carvers of Central Africa made this wooden stool in the 20th century. Stools like this are commonly associated with seating and with status. A broad, round, shallow seat sits over a short central stem, with three or four flaring, root-like legs spreading below. The seat has a small hole near its center, and the grain shows strongly. The wood is a pale, weathered tan, dry and rough with age, and one leg has a dark patch.

About 12 inches high and 16 inches wide. Rustic, wide and grounded.