Hi Amy,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.

What an interesting story!

This type of chair is known as a "backstool", a form that evolved when chairmakers attached a back to a stool; these originated in England and Europe in the Renaissance and were more comfortable than simple stools. Many similar chairs made in the 18th and 19th Centuries feature a similar "face" - referencing a folkloric and artistic figure associated with nature, rebirth, vegetation, and the cycle of the seasons. Traditionally depicted as a human face surrounded by, made from, or sprouting leaves and vines, the Green Man appears most famously in medieval architectural carvings throughout Europe, especially in churches, abbeys, and cathedrals.

The presence of a vampire bat is unusual and vampires are not traditionally a central part of Haitian Vodou or Louisiana Voodoo belief systems, but over time popular culture blended vampire imagery with Voodoo themes, especially in 19th- and 20th-century Gothic fiction, pulp horror, and Hollywood films.

Traditional Vodou (often spelled Vodou, Vodun, or Voodoo in older English usage) developed from West African spiritual traditions combined with Catholicism in places such as Haiti and New Orleans. Its core beliefs focus on spirits (lwa), ancestors, healing, protection, ritual practice, and community — not blood-drinking undead creatures.

According to a Tulane University report, the “Tramps” club in New Orleans was an early African American marching and mutual-aid group that became the foundation for the famous Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, one of the city’s most celebrated Mardi Gras organizations.

The Tramps emerged around the turn of the 20th century, likely about 1901, during a period when Black New Orleanians formed benevolent societies and social clubs to provide services mainstream institutions denied them. These organizations often helped members with funeral expenses, sickness benefits, insurance, and community support.

The Tramps themselves were known as a ragged-costume marching club. During Carnival season, members dressed in patched or shabby clothing and paraded through the streets in a satirical, carnivalesque style common in early New Orleans Mardi Gras culture. Scholars note that these “tramp” disguises reflected both humor and social commentary about poverty, labor, and class.

Their lasting historical importance comes from a famous transformation in 1908–1909. According to tradition, members of the Tramps attended a performance by the vaudeville troupe “The Smart Set” at the Pythian Theater. One skit, titled There Never Was and Never Will Be a King Like Me, depicted an imagined African “Zulu” court. Inspired by the performance, the group reinvented itself as the Zulus.

In 1909, the newly styled Zulu group crowned its first king, William Story, who reportedly wore a lard-can crown and carried a banana-stalk scepter. What began partly as parody of elite white Mardi Gras krewes evolved into a major Black Carnival institution. By 1916 the organization formally incorporated as the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club.

the organization that evolved from the Tramps into the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club eventually maintained clubhouses and headquarters buildings, though the original “Tramps” group itself was more informal and likely met in halls, saloons, benevolent society rooms, and neighborhood gathering places rather than in a purpose-built clubhouse of its own.

Early Zulu history is closely associated with the old Pythian Temple area in downtown New Orleans, because that is where members reportedly saw the vaudeville performance that inspired the organization’s transformation from the Tramps into the Zulus around 1908–1909.

Over time, as the Zulu organization formalized and incorporated in 1916, it developed permanent headquarters spaces. The club’s modern headquarters is located on North Broad Street and functions as a social hall, administrative center, gathering place, and museum-like repository of Zulu history.

The "05" date may mean 1905, aligning with when the Tramps were first formed. While I can't confirm the identify of the maker, I can see that this chair was made with knowledge of historical precedents.

It's beyond the scope of Mearto's online appraisals to authenticate objects or works of art but an inquiry (by you or an authenticator) to the club's North Broad Street headquarters might confirm the story of the gentleman you purchased this from. I suspect there may be photos of the inside of the club and you might find this chair, or even others!

In it's present condition, this will have little resale or commercial value - almost certainly less than $100 - but if you can successfully link this with the Tramps/Zulu Club, that would certainly make this desirable to institutions interested in New Orleans history, such as the Historic New Orleans Collection, the Louisiana State Museum, The Cabildo, the Presbytère, Tulane University, The Amistad Research Center and the University of New Orleans.

Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:

An antique carved wood backstool
probably 1905, unattributed maker, possibly New Orleans
The shaped back with deep relief carving centering a stylized mask and vampire bat surrounded by scrolling vines, over a plank seat, raised on shaped relief-carved plank supports depicting phoenixes. Inscribed '05' with indistinct initials.
38 inches overall height
CONDITION: In poor condition
PROVENANCE: Salvaged after Hurricane Katrina
$50-75*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.

Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia