Caryatid stool ·  D. R. Congo, Luba/Hemba · ID: 3035299

Description

wood, reddish brown patina with traces of black paint, supported by a standing female figure with accentuated navel and tribe-typical scarification marks, both hands elongated by narrow projections in order to support the small seat resting on the head, slightly dam., minor missing parts (rim of the seat and base), cracks (base);
the depiction of women on stools is a symbol for the influential part of the First woman of a king or chief. The female caryatid figure quasi supports the sacral power, which is incarnated in the owner of the stool. The woman pulling the strings behind the throne - an image which finds expression in the saying: “men are chiefs by day, but women are chiefs by night”.

Littérature comparée

Agthe, Johanna, Luba Hemba, Werke unbekannter Meister, Frankfurt am Main 1983, p. 18 Phillips, Tom (Hg.), Afrika, Die Kunst eines Kontinents, Berlin 1996, p. 286