Another Pemba Stool!

I have just received a picture of another Pemba stool. It belongs to Tony Chetham, a very old friend of mine from Mombasa days. Like me, he inherited it from his parents.

Tony writes, "The Pemba stool originated from Zanzibar. My father had a 3 year posting in Zanzibar at Smith Mackenzies' office around 1948-51. He always said they were the happiest days of his life. The office was in Stonetown, there were very few cars on the island and everyone had a bicycle to move around. I have memories of travelling on its back carrier. We lived in an old colonial house, turn of the century, that was haunted. I remember father getting up in middle of night to turn off all the lights that had mysteriously been switched on. Other times the sound of kitchen crockery being smashed woke us all up. Further investigations proved nothing had been broken, everything in the kitchen was in place."

Tony corrects me on one fact. The seat of the stool is made from goat's hide, not cow. The hide on his stool, as with the two we have, is still tight across the stool's wooden frame.

Many thanks to Tony for picture and story.