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85 - Tshokwe (Chokwe) female caryatid seat, Angola Materials: Har…
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Estimate €8,000 - €12,000
Sale commission
Description
Tshokwe (Chokwe) female caryatid seat, Angola Materials: Hardwood with deep brown-black patina Dimensions: H. 34 cm. Provenance: Former collection of Edmond Verfaillie (1892-1962), a prominent figure associated with the major Belgian companies operating in the Belgian Congo under Belgian state administration, notably Forminière and Union Minière. Kept by family descendants. This early provenance is part of a particularly coherent and well-documented collection. It is interesting to note that this prestigious chair comes from the same collection as one of the major paintings in this sale: La Femme Chokwe (1936) by Clément Serneels. Produced during the artist's early African travels in Central Africa, this work is among the most striking representations of the Chokwe world produced in the XXᵉ century. Serneels, who was awarded a government grant in 1936 to travel around the Belgian Congo and neighbouring regions, developed a particularly sensitive eye for the cultures and figures of Central Africa. Among the most prestigious emblems of traditional Tshokwe power, the caryatid chairs occupy a special place. Reserved for chiefs, dignitaries and notables, they embodied both the social rank of their owner and the spiritual foundations of his authority. Ethnographic sources refer to these prestigious seats as ngunja, veritable insignia of power within the Tshokwe societies of Angola.
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About the sale ARTS OF AFRICA & OCEANIA: Three exceptional family collections
Auction location
Auction time 06/22/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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