Designed by
Barnes, Germane
Created by
Barnes, Germane
Date
2020
Medium
paint on plywood and metal with rope and putty
Dimensions
H x W x D: 41 5/8 × 19 7/8 × 19 in. (105.8 × 50.5 × 48.2 cm)
Description
Prototype porch chair from a series titled “Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears the Crown,” by Germane Barnes. The chair consists of a seat (a) with a comb chairback (b) and is primarily composed of natural and painted wood and metal. The wooden chairback is designed to resemble an Afro pick with seven, elongated teeth that extent downwards, terminating just above the floor. The chair features a comb shaft neck rest/backrest with a double, stacked, semicircular design. The headrest is a small semicircle connected to the backrest at the bottom center with a small, square cutout. The backrest is also semicircular in shape but is squared on the left and right sides over the chair legs. The front and back of the backrest is a natural light wood color with a darker wood grain. There are black residue drip marks along the top edges of the headrest and backrest and on the side edges of the comb teeth. The cross rail supporting the chairback, the two arms, four legs, and seat frame are metal and have been painted a solid yellow color. The front chair legs are straight and the back chair legs are diagonal and extend slightly behind the chairback. The seat is constructed from interwoven orange, white, tan, yellow, dark green and twine. At the center of the seat, starting from the apron and extending to almost the chairback, is a large, orange, triangular warp pattern woven into a weft pattern of a thick white band near the apron and thinner tan, yellow, green, and white bands near the backrest. There are also six thin, white, warp twine bands interwoven into the weft color bands framing the orange triangular pattern at the center on either side. The base of the arms, near the seat, are wrapped with twine that form yellow, green, and white bands. The four corners of the frame are bare, exposing the yellow frame below.
Place made
Miami, Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, North and Central America
Portfolio/Series
Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears The Crown
Classification
Decorative Arts, Craft, and Design
Type
seats and seat components
chairs
Topic
Africa
African diaspora
Architecture
Art
Design
Furniture design
Hair
Holidays and festivals
Identity
Ornamentation
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
2022.84.1ab
Restrictions & Rights
© Germane Barnes
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5ac26715b-70fe-42c9-9d9b-52a374a5ad80

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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