Three Legged Stool
1 of 5
Object Label
ART OF PRESENTING GENDER
Art can play a role in articulating and enacting gender identities, both openly and more subtly.
This stool and figure display their respectively male and female bodily sexual characteristics quite directly. The stool would have been used by a Lobi man of high status, with its phallic “foot” protruding to convey his virility and authority. The figure, dedicated to the Yoruba cult of Shango, the orisha (god) of thunder, emphasizes female characteristics of breasts and hairdo. In addition, the bowl held by the figure has sexual and reproductive associations.
The two headrests are everyday objects with the same function, though their differing forms are based on the gender of the user. The blocklike form of the man’s headrest contrasts with the more slender form of the woman’s. Even everyday objects such as these can subtly reinforce a strict, binary concept of gender. In addition to cradling the head and protecting often elaborate coiffures during sleep, headrests also serve as emblems of status.
Caption
Sikire Kambire Lobi, 1896–1963; Lobi. Three Legged Stool, late 19th–early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 6 x 23 7/8 in. (28.0 x 60.5 x 15.0 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased with funds given by David Shaw King and Carll H. de Silver Fund, 74.175. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 74.175_SL3.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Culture
Title
Three Legged Stool
Date
late 19th–early 20th century
Geography
Possible place made: Burkina Faso, Possible place made: Northwestern, Ghana
Medium
Wood
Classification
Dimensions
11 x 6 x 23 7/8 in. (28.0 x 60.5 x 15.0 cm)
Credit Line
Purchased with funds given by David Shaw King and Carll H. de Silver Fund
Accession Number
74.175
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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