Stools are such powerful emblems of a chief’s power and identity that they were often kept secretly in a village different from their possessor’s to reduce the risk of theft or desecration. Among the Luba, all royal stools are considered replicas of an original prototype which was given to their first king, Mbidi Kiluwe, at the time of his investiture.
The seat of this royal Luba stool is supported by a seated female figure who balances it on her head and the tips of her elongated fingers. Her body is detailed with elaborate cicatrisation markings on the stomach that, in past generations, enhanced a woman’s body as a sign of beauty and civilisation. Despite being a patriarchal society, the Luba people trace succession and inheritance through the female line. Consequently, caryatid figures that support chiefs’ stools generally depict female ancestors.
Stools are such powerful emblems of a chief’s power and identity that they were often kept secretly in a village different from their possessor’s to reduce the risk of theft or desecration. Among the Luba, all royal stools are considered replicas of an original prototype which was given to their first king, Mbidi Kiluwe, at the time of his investiture.
The seat of this royal Luba stool is supported by a seated female figure who balances it on her head and the tips of her elongated fingers. Her body is detailed with elaborate cicatrisation markings on the stomach that, in past generations, enhanced a woman’s body as a sign of beauty and civilisation. Despite being a patriarchal society, the Luba people trace succession and inheritance through the female line. Consequently, caryatid figures that support chiefs’ stools generally depict female ancestors.
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41 H x 28 W x 30 D cm |
