The Niger Bend

This is a nice example of the stools you find in almost every compound in the African bush. At 16″ tall and 13 1/2″ in diameter (41 x 34 cm diam.) this one is quite large by comparison with most. The vast majority of Africans live in villages rather than cities and most of those live in “compounds”, groups of huts, usually round, each belonging to a member of one family. Furniture is limited; the most common item of furniture is the round stool of which this one is very characteristic though most are much smaller than this one. Most often these common stools are used outside and get moved around quite casually so are not maintained in the way we tend to maintain our furniture; a lot of wear is always common. This one has lots of wear around the sides and the top is very heavily patinated. The base of this one broke in normal use but was still – and remains to this day – useful so it continued to be used even in its imperfect condition.