Cameroonian Stool with Snake & Frog Motifs

Serpents hold up the seat, and a frog sits at their feet as if unconcerned.

This stool with snake and frog motifs comes from Cameroon, Central Africa, made of cast bronze in the 20th century. In Cameroon's royal courts, cast metal objects were marks of power, and animals carried meaning, snakes and frogs generally linked with strength and with fertility. Thick scaled coils knot around the central column. A frog and a leaf-like form rest on the round base, edged in a braided band. The seat is pierced with oval openings under a rim of cowrie-like shapes. Fifteen inches high and fifteen across.

Sitting on it would take some nerve.