Luba Caryatid Stool, Democratic Republic of the Congo

with beaded fiber belt.

Reportedly collected in 1962 by a Belgian geologist
Loudmer-Poulain, Paris, Arts Primitifs, June 24, 1981, lot 143
Gerbrand Luttik, Soest, acquired at the above auction
Private American Collection, acquired from the above on July 6, 1981

According to Roberts and Roberts (2007: 7 and 9), the Luba were a cluster of "overlapping clan and lineage groupings that were consolidated as kingdoms and important chiefdoms from around the seventeenth century" by the mythical hero, king Kalala Ilunga.  "Luba political strength lay in an aura of prestige derived from spiritual power and reflected in material and performance arts.  Indeed, the arts played a crucial role in Luba political expansion, as kings conferred objects and the ritual practices associated with them to extend their influence into outlying areas."

Female caryatid stools were part of each Luba king's treasury and the most important emblem of his kingship.  Stools figured prominently in royal investiture rites where "the new ruler swore his oath of office and addressed his people for the first time as king" (Roberts and Roberts 1996: 18, text to cat. 2).  The purpose of caryatid stools was, however, not as much functional as it was symbolic.  The female figure made reference to the matrilineal dynastic succession.

When a Luba king died his residence was preserved as lieu de mémoire where his spirit was alive and incarnated by a human medium, called mwadi.  Objects from the deceased king's royal treasury became objects of devotion and were ritually venerated.  Roberts and Roberts (1996: 17, text to cat. 1) note: “The soul of each Luba kingship is literally enshrined in a throne.  When a Luba king died, his royal residence was preserved for posterity as a ‘spirit capital,’ a lieu de mémoire where his memory was perpetuated through a spirit medium called ‘Mwadi’ who incarnated his spirit.  This site became known as ‘kitenta,’ or ‘seat’ – a symbolic seat of remembrance and power, which would continue the king’s reign.  The king’s stool, a concrete symbol of this larger and more metaphysical ‘seat,’ expresses the most fundamental precepts of Luba power and dynastic succession.”