This type of figurative stool, favored by the Songo in particular, takes the form of a female ancestor seated with her elbows on her knees. She appears to hold a shallow bowl or basket where a titleholder may sit. The figure’s vulva is well defined and placed so that it touches the ground. This reinforces the connection with the land and the underground, which is symbolically associated with the place where ancestors dwell. In such stools, the female ancestor is the bearer of a chiefly lineage who metaphorically connects a seated chief with a line of predecessors and, in literally carrying the ruler, she also metaphorically underscores her support of the chief and his or her people.