The grassland region of southwest Cameroon is a hilly and mountainous area covered by an equatorial forest in the south and a savannah in the north. Since its colonization by the Germans in 1884, this entire region, in particular the Bamileke, Bamun, and Tikar territories, has attracted the attention of Western scholars because of its artistic heritage. The Bamileke number 700,000 people and they are ruled by kings. This exquisitely carved stool was carved from a single piece of wood. It features human figures ringing the base, which are supporting a ring of buffalo heads above. The human figures are likely to represent ancestors, while the buffalo figures indicate that the stool was designed for royal use. The mixture of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures is common in Bamileke carvings, as, indeed, it is in many African tribes. -Bacquart