Karel Plasmans Collection , Belgium

Paul Gilman, Liège

Philippe Laeremans, Brussels

Didier Claes, Brussels

Pierre Dartevelle (1940–2022), Brussels

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

Neyt (François), Songye. La Redoutable Statuaire Songye d'Afrique Centrale, Antwerp : Fonds Mercator, 2004, p. 363

This important Luba-Songye stool belongs to a group of prestigious seats associated with both political and spiritual authority. Its Janus-headed support embodies a dual vision, gazing simultaneously in opposite directions. The two faces evoke the passage between dawn and dusk, the visible and invisible worlds, and the realms of the living and the ancestors, thereby safeguarding the balance and continuity of the community.

As Pemberton (2011, 38) observed, Songye caryatid stools are unmistakably Songye in style, yet they also reflect a Luba-Songye artistic tradition first identified by Olbrechts in the 1940s (Petridis, 2001 : cat. 48). Among the Luba, caryatid stools supported by kneeling, standing, or seated female figures ranked among the foremost insignia of kingship and were reserved for chiefs and other high-ranking dignitaries. In Songye examples such as this one, the rounded naturalism characteristic of Luba sculpture gives way to a more abstract and geometric aesthetic. The heavily lidded eyes, high-bridged triangular nose, and projecting square chin closely recall the distinctive features of Kifwebe masks, among the most emblematic expressions of Songye art.