In many cultures in southeastern D.R.C.--indeed, throughout Africa--seats of leaders are important symbols of power and authority. Most of the peoples of southeastern D.R.C. trace succession and inheritance through the female line, and, accordingly, caryatid figures supporting chiefs' stools generally depict women.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Royal Seat: Female Caryatid
Date:19th–20th century
Geography:Democratic Republic of the Congo
Culture:Songye peoples
Medium:Wood, metal, ivory, beads
Dimensions:H. 19 13/16 x W. 13 3/8 x D. 13 1/8 in. (50.4 x 34 x 33.3 cm)
Classification:Wood-Furniture
Credit Line:The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Nelson A. Rockefeller Gift, 1969
Object Number:1978.412.593
Jeanne Walschot, Paris, Antwerp, and Brussels, until 1950; Clark and Frances Stillman, New York, until 1969; The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1969–1978
Museum of Primitive Art. "The Clark and Frances Stillman Collection of Congolese Sculpture," November 24, 1965–February 6, 1966.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art of Oceania, Africa and the Americas from The Museum of Primitive Art," May 10–August 17, 1969.
Seattle Art Museum. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," January 5, 1975–February 16, 1975.
American Federation of Arts. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," January 5, 1975–May 15, 1977.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," March 23, 1975–May 4, 1975.
Dallas Museum of Art. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," June 8, 1975–July 20, 1975.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," August 25, 1975–October 10, 1975.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," November 9, 1975–December 21, 1975.
Toledo Museum of Art. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," April 11, 1976–May 25, 1976.
Walker Art Center. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," June 27, 1976–August 8, 1976.
Denver Art Museum. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," September 10, 1976–November 7, 1976.
de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," March 12, 1977–May 15, 1977.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Buli Master: An African Artist of the 19th Century," February 14–July 13, 1980.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Art of Oceania, Africa, and the Americas from the Museum of Primitive Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1969, no. 435.
American Federation of Arts. Primitive Art Masterworks: an exhibition jointly organized by the Museum of Primitive Art and the American Federation of Arts, New York. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1974, no. 93.
Ross, Doran H. Elephant: The Animal and Its Ivory in African Culture. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1992.
Hersak, Dunja. Songye Masks and Figure Sculpture. London: Ethnographica, 1995.
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The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.
