Siège cérémoniel
Chairs with duho backs belonged to chiefs and shamans. They sat on these chairs to enter the ecstatic trances provoked by consuming hallucinogenic substances. In the 16th century, after the arrival of the Europeans in the Greater Antilles, the Taino culture disappeared within 20 years.
Taino people, Island of Hispaniola (Haiti or Dominican Republic), Greater Antilles. 1200-1500 AD. Guaiac wood H. 42 cm; L. 78 cm. Donation from F. and R. David-Weill. Inv. 71.1950.77.1 Am © musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, photo Hughes Dubois