Cote d' Ivoire Senufo Bed

A large and impressive early 20th ceremonial Senufo bed from Africa's Ivory Coast. The elongated and gently sloping platform, together with all four legs, were carved and adzed by hand from the same timber. Unlike most legged furniture, which requires joining parts with stretchers, mortises, tenons, pins, screws, dovetails or dowels, this bed has no joinery. The top platform and the legs are connected only by their shared molecular structure.

The manufacture of a Senufo bed begins with an enormous timber, which in all probability, represents the entire trunk of a tree. After the tree has been felled, a rectangular wood blank is formed and then submerged in water to soften the dense wood. Utilizing nothing more than the most basic hand tools, little by little it begins to take shape and after several months of chiseling wood as hard stone the process is complete.

Circa 1930. Well used as evidenced by the lustrous surface patina. 

Dimensions: 97 inches long x 19 inches wide x 14 inches high.

Condition notes: tree branch / tree knot puncture with two old metal reinforcements. Overall structural condition is sound and solid. 

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