SEDES POSSESSIO: SEATED BAULE FIGURE AS THRONES OF THE SPIRITS
The enthroned posture of seating has always communicated a sense of permanence and character. The person that sits on a chair or a stool exudes a feeling of calm from easing the task of standing and is then able to concentrate on important social or political matters. He or she becomes an honored guest and takes the chair as a fundamental right or privilege. Initiates and priests to the deities sit on them when preparing to go into possession trance. Chiefs use them when making important decisions and pronouncements. Kings use them when engaged in momentous matters-rituals, judgements.
I have chosen to focus specifically on one gesture from one African style: seated figures from the Baule tribe in Central Ivory Coast.
The iconography of seated figures in African art is indeed quite ancient.
