We were recently revisiting Ostapkowicz's dissertation on the duho and looking at images of the stools again. Somehow it escaped us how unusual and interesting the Hispaniola duho purchased in 1925 for the National Museum of the American Indian truly is. Despite bearing so many stylistic features common to duhos from the island of Hispaniola, including some rather famous pieces surviving in museums in Europe and the Dominican Republic, this particular one lacks a head between the front legs. The high-backed stool has the panel with the 3 circles and dots as well as a similar panel at the front, whoever carved this piece apparently did not include a head (anthropomorphic or zoomorphic). Nor can one find a head at the top of the duho, with a human or anthropomorphic head as a few examples found in eastern Hispaniola and Dominica show (although the Dominica find was likely from Hispaniola).
While duhos without heads exist, one with the specific set of features like this, seems rather unusual. It would be intriguing to learn more about the piece's history, but all we can say with certainty is that it was purchased in Paris in the 1920s and supposedly came from the Dominican Republic. It would be interesting to know if it had any connection with the famous duho given to the Musée de l'Homme by a wealthy French collector. In the case of this more famous example of Taino masterpieces, the stool was allegedly from Haiti.
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