Dwa (stool)

A dwa stool

A dwa or asesedwa or sometimes gwa is a stool of the Ashantis of Ghana.

Uses

Often made of wood, the dwa is more or less decorated according to the status of its possessor,[1] it has great institutional and symbolic importance among the Akan.[2] These stools are rectangular in shape and have five supporting pillars (annan).[3] The royal seat or ahennwa is considered the "soul of the nation", once enthroned the king (ahene) becomes as sacred as the seat.[4][5]

The mmarima dwa are the stools of the men, while the mmaa dwa are for women. The adammadwa (literally "two pennies stool") are for poor people.[6]

  • Small ashanti stool, copper on wooden frame
    Small ashanti stool, copper on wooden frame
  • The Golden stool 1935
    The Golden stool 1935

Bibliography

  • Christiane Falgayrettes-Leveau, Christiane Owusu-Sarpong, Ghana hier et aujourd'hui, éditions Dapper, 2003.
  • Sandro Bocola, Ezio Bassani, African Seats, Vitra Design Museum, 1995.
  • Mougo Boniface, Azariah Nyaggah, Social Origins of the Asante Traditional Administrators, 1974.

References

  1. ^ Christiane Falgayrettes-Leveau, Christiane Owusu-Sarpong, Ghana hier et aujourd'hui, éditions Dapper, 2003
  2. ^ Peter Sarpong, The Sacred Stools of the Akan, 1971, p.26
  3. ^ Purissima Benitez-Johannot, Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller, Sièges d'Afrique noire du musée Barbier-Mueller, Musée Barbier-Mueller, 2003, p.128
  4. ^ Peter Sarpong, The Sacred Stools of the Akan, 1971, p.26
  5. ^ Walter C. Rucker, Gold Coast Diasporas : Identity, Culture, and Power, 2015, p.39
  6. ^ Anthropos, Volume 62, 1903, p.27
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