ASHANTI, GHANA
WOOD, BEADS, HEIGHT 51CM

This statue represents the symbolic figure of  the ancestral Queen mother sitting on a stool feeding a newborn. The Queen mother was traditionally acknowledged as representative of the prime ancestor of the Ashanti people. Both the Queen mother and the stool are of great importance to the Ashanti, Historically the Queen mother has authority to appoint the king. The most famous of all historical Queen mothers was Yaa Asantewaa (1840- 1921).  In 1900 she led the famous war of the Golden Stool (which referred to the ancestral throne) against the colonial British conquerors. Here is her famous speech: 
” How could a brave people like the Ashanti sit back while white men took away their kings and chiefs and humiliated them with the demand for the golden stool. It only means money for the white men, they have searched everywhere for it. If you, the chiefs of Asante behave like cowards and not fight, you should exchange your loin cloth for my under garment.”