The Golden Stool
Culture: Asante
Location: Ghana
Medium: Gold, Wood, Mixed Media
(Photograph From ARTstor)
Most Akan stools consist of a rectangular base from which a partly open central column and four corner posts rise to support a saddle-shapped seat. The entire stool is carved from wood. The Golden Stool of the Asante is the most famous African Stool. 6 The stool originally was used for the first asantehene (chief or king). The golden stool was said to contain the spirit of the Asante nation. Stools are said to be the central symbol of Akan Polities. At a great man’s death, it is said that his soul is transferred to the stool, now blackened and consecrated for the purpose. The blackened stools of kings and other royals are kept in a special shrine called a stool room, where collectively they represent the state’s dynastic soul and history.
6 Monica Blackmun Visona, A History of Art in Africa. (Pentice Hall, 2001), 198.
Location: Ghana
Medium: Gold, Wood, Mixed Media
(Photograph From ARTstor)
Most Akan stools consist of a rectangular base from which a partly open central column and four corner posts rise to support a saddle-shapped seat. The entire stool is carved from wood. The Golden Stool of the Asante is the most famous African Stool. 6 The stool originally was used for the first asantehene (chief or king). The golden stool was said to contain the spirit of the Asante nation. Stools are said to be the central symbol of Akan Polities. At a great man’s death, it is said that his soul is transferred to the stool, now blackened and consecrated for the purpose. The blackened stools of kings and other royals are kept in a special shrine called a stool room, where collectively they represent the state’s dynastic soul and history.
6 Monica Blackmun Visona, A History of Art in Africa. (Pentice Hall, 2001), 198.