This chair, made around 1960 in Nigeria, is an interesting combination of different cultural influences: a European-style chair that has been transformed into a seat of power through the addition of beads. Beads are very important in the Yoruba culture of Nigeria. People of prestige and importance, such as rulers, priests, diviners, and elders, wear beads to signify their success in life and their relationship to the spiritual world. The animals—lions, lizards, elephants, and birds—woven into the design are typically associated with people of importance due to their size, strength, spiritual connections, and special abilities. It is believed that these individuals bridge the two realms that define the Yoruba universe—the humanly world (aye) and the otherworld (orun), where the gods and ancestors reside.
