SAPFM Museum Furniture Collection

Ceremonial Chair or Throne (citwamo ca mangu)

Ceremonial Chair or Throne (citwamo ca mangu), 1800s, Wood, upholstery studs, leather
Date
1800s
Medium
Wood, upholstery studs, leather
Dimensions
Overall: 107 x 55 x 55 cm (42 1/8 x 21 5/8 x 21 5/8 in.)
Form
Chair
Origin
Africa
Culture
Africa, Central Africa, Angola, Chokwe-style carver
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Accession
2024.140
Credit line
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
Starting around the 1500s, Chokwe and other African leaders and traders received fine chairs as gifts from Portuguese traders. Chokwe leaders adapted this symbol of power as their own, using it in tandem with stools, an earlier kind of prestige seat.
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