Superb, Rare Luba Stool, Caryatid Mother With Child

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Superb, Rare Luba Stool, Caryatid Mother With Child

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Sold Date: 12/04/2007
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art

African Tribal Art

Luba Stool

Congo

Material: wood Condition: use & wear, damage to base, overall good Size: approx 15" (38 cm) Weight: 3.00 kg ref 2005

Luba Stool

Congo

This very old Luba stool is a rarity on more than one ground. Stools depicting female figures with children are extremely uncommon, and such an asymmetrical composition is also seldom seen.

Quite apart from its rarity, the stool is delightful masterpiece of Luba sculpture, portraying a serene and dignified maternal ancestress with a solemn little boy under one arm. It shows decades of use, and while the upper part of the statue is still dark and glossy from oil libations, the lower section is very dusty. Although I prefer to offer all my pieces in completely original condition, this stool should be cleaned and oiled to achieve its full beauty.

Luba society is matrilinear, meaning that royal or chiefly blood is passed through the mother's line. Proof of the right to rule must be through a mother or grandmother. Few Luba figures depict males, and those which do tend to show men in relation to women, as in male-female pairs.

Stools were used by high-ranking males, those who exercised power, but were cared for by women, who were regarded as the custodians of the most important treasures of each clan, namely political power and the ability to bear children.

The supporting figures, both mother and child, are carved with the tender naturalism of the best Luba art. However, this naturalism also contains many symbolic elements. The pose of the mother is stylized, with one leg supporting the infant. As a clan matriarch, she bestows fertility on the earth below her, and in turn, the earth fertilizes her. Her lower body cradles the child while her head and upper body supports the seat of the stool. The line of power thus rises from the earth, through the body of the matriarch, to the man whose right it is to take the seat. It is the woman who validates that right, and indeed, her presence which makes this a stool at all, and the prime symbol of political authority.

The mother and child are depicted with intimacy; the strokes of the adze lend a sense of life and immediacy.

This is a very fine Luba stool of considerable age and aesthetic value.

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