Caryatid  LUBA stools

Republic democratic of Congo

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      While many objects of Luba art appear to be functional, their utilitarian purposes have been replaced or augmented by symbolic purposes. Sculpted caryatid stools serve symbolically as seats of power and sites of memory for deceased kings and chiefs rather than serve as places to sit. Therefore, they are metaphorical, not literal, seats of kingship. The design of Luba seats of leadership may either be abstract or figurative. Those incorporating female caryatids give expression to the Luba conception of the female body as a spiritual receptacle that supports divine kingship. The aesthetic refinement of the female body through elaborate skin ornamentation serves as a metaphor for the civilization and refinement that Luba rulers disseminate within society.

        Like lukasas, Luba stools and staffs are "mnemonic mapping devices." They reflect and simulate "place memory" because they refer to sacred sites and prompt the narration of political histories through their forms.^[11] Luba caryatid stools embodied important rulers of the past. When a Luba king died, his royal residence (or kitenta) became the site where his spirit was incarnated by a female medium called Mwadi. This woman was possessed by the spirit of the king and inherited his insignia, dignitaries and wives. The succeeding king established a new residence, and throughout his reign he offered tribute to the mwadi of his predecessor. A caryatid stool is therefor a concrete manifestation of this metaphysical "seat."