Stool (Hemba), late 19thcentury.
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Wood, 52 x 27.5 x 22 cm.
The Trustees of the British Museum, London.
Stools such as this example, particularly among the Luba and
those who emulated the Luba sacred rule, were owned and
used by chiefs and kings. Still used as seats of power and
memory of the past and present, the subtle iconography of
stools can be read as sculptural narratives. They may be
considered a place which joins the chief and his people to the
ancestors and other spirits seeking guide for daily affairs;
they are called kitentaor “spirit capital”. Only intending for
sitting in the most rare of circumstances, like when a chief or
king attempts to show his position as a sacred intermediary
between the world of the living and the dead.