Take a Seat! Take a seat! Caryatid stools - LUBA - Cariatid stools

by Laurent Vercheval
Since ancient times, caryatids have captured our imagination.
Greek and Roman sculptors used this symbolism extensively.
Etymology
According to Vitruvius, a Roman architect who lived in the 1st century BC, their name comes from the city of Karyes (near Sparta). The latter having allied itself with the Persians, the inhabitants were exterminated in -368 by the other Greeks, and their women, renowned for their strength and beauty, reduced to slavery and condemned to carry the heaviest burdens.
But caryatids as architectural elements existed long before this event.
-------
In black Africa too, caryatids are highly prized.
They can be the base of a neckrest, a drum, a divining cup, a stool.
We can observe them in particular among the Dogon of Mali, the Senufo of Ivory Coast, the Baga of Guinea, the Yoruba of Nigeria, the Bamileke of Cameroon. In Central Africa also, among the Yaka, the Tshokwe, the Mangbetu, the Songye, the Hemba, and of course among the Luba .
The oldest known Luba seats were not figurative, they consisted of two trays connected by four uprights, (De Grunne, p7; Van Wassenhove, p52)
It seems that the golden age of caryatids began in the 19th century.


LUBA Caryatid Stools
 Stools are for the Luba the most important symbols of political power. Their local name is Kipona, or Kihona, or Lupona

For François Neyt, They make the link between the power of the chief and that of the ancestors and the genies
 According to Mary Nooter Roberts, seats stimulate "local memory", they situate power and memory in space.
 The name throne is relevant since their use is essential to the enthronement of the monarch (Daniel Hourdé, Atlantes and caryatids).
The LUBA empire was a constellation of small kingdoms and chiefdoms of Luba or "Lubaized" peoples, with very different styles from one region to another.
Thus, seven style centers were referenced by François Neyt









Luba Shankadi Stool (sold)

Old plaster reproduction of a stool by the Master of Buli *




BIBLIOGRAPHY - BIBLIOGRAPHY:
 
- Luba Hemba Caryatids, for a history of the art of caryatid seats in the Luba and Lubaized styles, Bernard de Grunne, exhibition catalogue Parcours des Mondes, Paris, 2017
- Atlantes and Caryatids. Thrones of Black Africa, Galerie Ratton - Hourdé, 2004
- LUBA, at the sources of Zaire, François NEYT, Editions du Musée Dapper, 1993

- LUBA, Visions of Africa, Editions 5 Continents, Mary Nooter Roberts and Allen F. Roberts, 2006
- MEMORY, Luba Art and the Making of History, Mary Nooter Roberts, 1996
- THE MASTER OF BULI, Isolated master or “workshop”, Essay on a catalogue raisonné Hemba, Luba, Claude-Henri Pirat, Tribal Arts, the world of tribal art No. 10, Summer 1996
- Seats of Central Africa, Donatienne Van Wassenhove, Tervuren, Royal Museum of Central Africa, 1996
- Design in Africa. Sit, lie down and dream, Christiane Falgayrettes-Leveau, Viviane Baeke, Christiane Owusu-Sarpong, Rahim Danto Barry, Joëlle Busca, Éditions Dapper, 2012.

Read also
Lupona (Royal Stool) Kayumba-Museka (Caryatid Stool), Adenike Cosgrove, www.imodara.com

*Buli Master's Stool
According to Sotheby's (Sotheby's Paris 30/11/10) only 6 seats of this type have been listed.
1) British Museum, ref. 19056-13-1, 52 cm, collected before 1905, acquired from Roland Ward. Light wood.
2) MRAC Tervuren, inv. RG 49379 53.3 cm. Gift of Dr. Bertrand, collected in 1896-1897, hard and heavy wood, identified as Albizzia antunesiana.
3) Linden Museum Stuttgart, inv. 38229., 53 cm. Gift of Mr. Chrapkowski, Advisor to the Imperial Government in Dar-es-Salam. Hard and heavy wood.
4) Museum für Völkerkunde, Leipzig, inv. 2667, 47 cm. Gift from Mr. Schuller in 1900, hard and heavy wood.
5) Etnografisk Museer, Oslo, inv. 17.775, 50 cm, collected on the Kasongo-Kabambare road between 1894-1904. Gift of Captain Hans-Frédérik Sundt before 1906, light wood.
6) Harry Bombeeck Collection, 50.8 cm, collected in 1896 and brought back in 1899, hard and heavy wood.


ENGLISH
Since antiquity, caryatids strike our imagination
Greek and Roman sculptors regularly used this symbolism

Etymology
According to Vitruvius, a Roman architect who lived in the 1st century BC, their name comes from the town of Karyes (near Sparta). The latter having allied itself with the Persians, the inhabitants were exterminated in -368 by the other Greeks, and their women, renowned for their strength and their beauty, reduced to slavery and condemned to carry the heaviest burdens.
But caryatids as architectural elements existed long before this event.

-------
In black Africa too, caryatids are very popular
They can be the basis of a neckrest, a drum, a divinatory cup, a stool.
It is observed in particular among the Dogon of Mali, the Senoufo of Côte d'Ivoire, the Baga of Guinea, the Yoruba of Nigeria, the Bamileke of Cameroon. Also in Central Africa, among the Yaka, the Tshokwe, the Mangbetu, the Songye, the Hemba, and of course among the Luba

The oldest known seats of the Luba were not figurative, they consisted of two trays connected by four uprights, (De Grunne, p7; Van Wassenhove, p52)

It seems that the golden age of caryatids began in the 19th century


LUBA Cariatid stools


Old plaster reproduction of a "Master of Buli" stool *


Stools are for the Luba the most important symbols of political power
Their local name is Kipona, or Kihona, or Lupona.
For François Neyt, They make the link between the power of the chief and that of the ancestors and geniuses

According to Mary Nooter Roberts, seats stimulate "local memory", they locate power and memory in space
The appellation of throne is relevant since their use is essential to the enthronement of the monarch (Daniel Hourdé, Atlanteans and caryatids).
The LUBA empire was a constellation of small kingdoms and chiefdoms of Luba or "Lubaised" peoples, with very different styles from region to region
Thus, seven style centers have been referenced by François Neyt
- Luba Hemba Caryatids, for a history of the art of caryatid seats in the Luba and Lubaized styles, Bernard de Grunne, exhibition catalogue Parcours des Mondes, Paris, 2017
- Atlantes and Caryatids. Thrones of Black Africa, Galerie Ratton - Hourdé, 2004
- LUBA, at the sources of Zaire, François NEYT, Editions du Musée Dapper, 1993

- LUBA, Visions of Africa, Editions 5 Continents, Mary Nooter Roberts and Allen F. Roberts, 2006
- MEMORY, Luba Art and the Making of History, Mary Nooter Roberts, 1996
- The Master of Buli, Isolated Master or “workshop”, Essay on a catalogue raisonné Hemba, Luba, Claude-Henri Pirat, Tribal Arts, the world of tribal art No. 10, Summer 1996
- The Master of Buli Reopening of the file, Claude-Henri Pirat, Tribal Arts, the world of tribal art No. 26, Summer 2001
- Seats of Central Africa, Donatienne Van Wassenhove, Tervuren, Royal Museum of Central Africa, 1996
- Masterpiece by the "Master of Buli", François Neyt, Bernard de Grunne, Sotheby's, 2010
- Design in Africa. Sit, lie down and dream, Christiane Falgayrettes-Leveau, Viviane Baeke, Christiane Owusu-Sarpong, Rahim Danto Barry, Joëlle Busca, Éditions Dapper, 2012.



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