Small caryatid stool
Angola, Chokwe
sold
EUR 1,500
Provenance
Hans Wolf, Zurich, SwitzerlandKarl-Ferdinand Schädler, Munich, Germany
Sotheby’s, London, 12 July 1977, lot 159
Ketterer, Munich, 6 May 1978, lot 465
Nusser, Munich, 2 November 1994, lot 281 (pictured on front page)
Size
H: 20,5 cm
H: 8.1 inch
Description
wood, slightly luminous blackish brown patina, bracelet from metal sheet, tribe typical “cingelyengelye” tattoo on the forehead, slightly dam., missing parts at the base (above all on the backside), crack (seat).
This chiefs stool features a female figure seated with elbows on knees and cradling her head in her hands - a pose commonly used to represent ancestral spirits in the artistic vocabulary of Chokwe and related people. This pose is associated with elders, people deep in thought, and also with burial position of chiefs and important members of the community.
Comparing literature
Jordán, Manuel (ed.), Chokwe!, München, London, New York 1998, ill. 13Publications
Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Afrikanische Kunst, München 1997, p. 293, fig.199AHDRC: 0002256