Throne / Ceremonial seat

(UEM15020) Luba thrones are sophistically carved wooden seats fashioned in the shape of female figure supporting a circular seat. The Luba thrones symbolise authority and spiritual connection to ancestors. These are ceremonial stools, sculpted in the form of female figures, and are not intended for practical seating. The thrones are receptacles for the chief’s spirit, and a seat for meetings between the ruler, the people and the spirit world, including the ancestors. The human-like form of the ceremonial stool depicts a female figure indicating women as bearers of sacared knowledge, spiritual authority and the perpetuation of lineage and royal memory. The Luba refer to their thrones as lupona, kioni or kipona.

Material: Wood 
Region: Kasai-oriental, Sankuru, Luba Height: 32 cm. Arrival: Donated to the Museum by Dr Inge Heiberg, 1905.