Camille Duyck Collection (1885-1966), Brussels

Pierre Dartevelle (1940–2022), Brussels

Jean-Jacques Rotthier Collection (1932–2009), Brussels, then by descent

Cornet (Joseph-Aurélien), Zaïre, Peuples-Art-Culture / Zaïre, Volken-Kunst-Cultuur, Antwerp: Fonds Mercator, 1989, p. 35

Dartevelle (Valérie) & Plisnier (Valentine), Pierre Dartevelle et les Arts Premiers. Mémoire et Continuité, vol. II, 5 Continents, 2021, p. 371, fig. 482

This royal seat (kipona) functions as a sacred insignia of political authority. Preserved within the king’s palace, it serves as a metaphorical seat of kingship and a tangible source of political legitimacy. Each stool is understood to replicate the original seat of office associated with the first rulers of the sacred Luba lineage.

The caryatid figure supporting the seat reflects the Luba conception of the female body as a vessel of spiritual power upon which sacred kingship depends. Because succession, inheritance, and royal titles are transmitted through the maternal line, the imagery explicitly symbolizes the king’s right to rule as inherited through his female ancestors. The figure evokes the primordial royal mothers, revered as the founders of the lineage and guarantors of dynastic continuity.

The finely rendered scarification patterns, the stylized cowrie shells adorning the rim, and the elaborate coiffure all serve as visual metaphors for the refinement, civilization, and social order associated with Luba kingship.