Early 20th Century Chieftain Armchair, Ethiopia

An early 20th Century Chieftain’s chair or Jima, hand-crafted in Ethiopia, circa 1930, possibly earlier.

Carved wood with turned legs, plank armrests and woven leather seat, with carved decorations throughout. It also includes metal coins embedded in the wood as decoration, which suggests the chair was made for someone of high rank.

Some of the coins display an image of the late emperor Haile Selassie, which tells us about the possible age of the chair. The central medallion, carved in bronze, contains Ethiopian characters surrounding an image of the “Lion of Judah”, which was the national symbol of Ethiopia before and during Selassie’s reign, until 1974.

The wood presents a desirable patina conferred by time and use. The leather weave is intact.