The Chokwe also have (among others) masks in the form of the heads of domestic pigs. These pig’s head masks symbolise the unbridled and unpredictable power of nature. They appear in dances and during the initiations of young men. Such Chokwe pig masks are more common. Extremely rare, however, are stools in the form of boars or aardvarks, which burrow in the ground and are thereby close to the ancestors of the people! Only very few specimens are know! The present stool is a beautiful example of it: carefully carved from very hard wood and dyed a dark brown colour. In the centre of the smooth, rectangular and visibly used seat is located the tribal mark of the Chokwe people, called ‘cingelyengelye (a type of ‘Maltese cross’), in relief. On this tribal mark lies a coin with the minting date ‘1921’, attached with a decorative brass nail. Two brass nails also decorate the eyes of the animal head, which are carved in relief. Through a hole in the left ear of the animal runs a short chain with yellow glass pearls, a pierced cowry shell and an aluminium amulet decorated with dots. A special rarity with good usage patina (see the smooth, ‘soft’ sunk-in seat). Only minor age-related damage (colour scuffed on edges and corners, minor cracks, an old fracture on the base plate). First half of the 20th century; h: 21 cm, L: 86 cm, W: 23 cm. (ME)

Provenance: Austrian private collection.