Palace pole
Henricus Simonis, Düsseldorf, Germany
Helge Achenbach, Düsseldorf, Germany
Description
wood, painted in traditional colours with red, white and black pigment, pair of figures, male/female, arranged back to back, more standing rather than sitting, quadruped between their legs, the coiffure of the female forming a platform for four vertically rising braces with the elongated bodies of two leopards superimposed on the “male” side, massive top with four thorn-like projections, slightly dam., traces of weathering and insect caused damage, cracks, metal base;
such all around sculpted posts served as support for the straw roofs of important buildings such as palaces and “kwifoyn” society houses. They could be arranged as a colonnade before the facade or as a peristyle in the inner courtyards. Architecture was - and in some regions still is - the most visible expression of royal power and prestige. The leopard motif represents a classic symbol of power and leadership. In the Grassfields the leopard is seen as the king’s “alter ego”, and each can metamorphose into the other.