African Tribal Art - Songye Stool

Ex-Belgian Decoster private collection.

This type of seat, sometimes used to support Songye fetishes, called mankishi (sing. nkishi), could also be decorated with a caryatid female figure, symbolizing fecundity, fertility and maternal lineage, placed at head level, of the umbilicus or at the base. In southwest Congo, Angola and Zambia, each chief had such a seat. The Songye originate from the Shaba region in the DRC and settled between the Lualaba River and the Sankuru River, in a region of savannah and forests. They are governed by the yakitengé and local chiefs, although the power of the Bwadci secret society serves as a counterweight.

Item accompanied by its certificate of authenticity.
PS: what does the certificate of authenticity consist of? https://www.galerie-art-africain.com/faq.aspx?qid=8

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