Ritual Messengers

Featured artifacts


| Ritual figures | Mask | Stool | African symbols | Sources |

Caryatid stool. Luba. Shaba, Zaïre. Wood, headed nails.
© Africa-Museum, Tervuren

  Stool


WHAT IS IT?

This is a caryatid stool from the Luba culture. The stool distinguishes its owner as a chief, and is his most important symbol of power. In other cultures, the stool would be equivalent to a crown. Other important elements of a chief's regalia are his staff, axe and spear. The mpemba (white kaolin) is another royal symbol; this sacred powder symbolizes the chief's alliance with the spirits of his kingdom.

WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?

This stool comes from the Shaba province, located south and east of Zaïre, where the Luba live.

WHAT MESSAGE DOES IT CONVEY?

The stool identifies its owner as chief, king or medium, and affirms his prestige. Responsibility for the fertility and prosperity of his people fell to the chief or king.

HOW IS IT USED?

The stool is designed so that the chief's feet never touch the ground and so he cannot be contaminated by sickness. It is believed that if a chief is healthy then his community will be healthy too. Seating is also a metaphor for the hierarchy among the Luba people.

WHAT MAKES THIS STOOL MORE THAN AN ART OBJECT?

In African cultures, "art for art's sake" does not exist. Although beauty may be important to an artist, form is determined primarily according to social or ritual criteria and bearing in mind practicalities. For example, a piece will be light or substantial depending on the weight it must bear. The degree to which the piece is finished will depend on the type of wood used.

HOW ARE STOOLS MADE?

First, the sculptor cuts a cylindrical piece of wood and lets it dry. He then divides in into three parts: head, body and legs. In this stool, the head and arms lifting the king are the main elements of the sculpture. The sculptor carves the outline with an adze, works on details such as the face with a chisel. Incisions are made with a knife. Parts of this sculpture have been covered with white clay, an important symbol linking the object with ancestors. Finally, the wood is protected with oil, most likely from the palm leaf, that gives it a dark patina effect.

Sceptre with tobacco mortar. Tshokwe. Shaba, Zaïre. Wood, headed nails.
© Africa-Museum, Tervuren

  WHAT ROLE DO CARYATID LUBA STOOLS SERVE?

Contrary to popular belief, African objects are not designed solely for religious purposes. Traditional African objects can be divided into three major categories:

  1. Ritual objects that have a therapeutic function or serve to protect against evil or combat sorcerers;
  2. Objects of power (such as staffs, axes and other regalia that signify an individual's social status) and
  3. Initiation objects that transmit knowledge and are used primarily during rituals (such as the circumcision ritual).
Certain objects serve more than one purpose. This stool, for example, belongs in the category of objects of power or regalia, and thus has a social as well as a ritual function. At the same time, the royal stool symbolizes not only the chief's power but also the royal capital, which, will become a sacred site after the chief's death.

WHY WOULD SUCH STOOLS BE HIDDEN?

If the royal stool were to be stolen, its new owner could claim the chief's power for himself: for this reason, the stool would rarely be used in public. A dignitary or close relation of the chief would protect it carefully, keeping it in a secret place, perhaps even hiding it outside the capital.


 
MYSTERY

Why is a women holding the stool? (image top of page)

1. Because she is considered a slave.
True   False

2. Because she is considered one of the chief's most important possessions.
True   False

3. Because the Luba society is matrilineal.
True   False


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