Female figure with child

Object Details

Label Text

She is a vision of goodness—a protector, a nourisher, a provider. Cradling her child in her arms while focused on a distant goal in the future, she sits upright adorned with attributes of Kongo leadership and beauty, bearing elaborate scarified tattoos, filed teeth, and a smooth, serene composure. Her piercing eyes are half-closed, but stare directly ahead. She is concentrating not just on the child in her lap, but on a larger, metaphorical goal, as-yet-unrealized, on the distant horizon. Collected before 1914, this figure is one of six examples attributed to an as-yet-unnamed master artist.

This figure likely served as a phemba, an icon associated with Kongo religious groups centered on healing and motherhood, particularly during periods in the 18th and 19th centuries when the trade in enslaved peoples was at its most disruptive in this region. Typically, maternal qualities of nourishment and protection, embodied in the gesture of this phemba, take on new meaning in such a horrific and traumatic context.

Description

Female figure seated crosslegged on a square plinth with a small male child across her knees. The smaller figure has one hand on his penis, one on the woman's breast. Added decoration on the female figure includes brass tacks on the forehead, inlaid glass eyes, a blue glass bead necklace, geometric scarification on the chest and back and a representation of a knotted fiber cap of high status.

Provenance

Belgian collector, before 1914

Private collection, Belgium

Jean-Pierre Jernander, Brussels

Alan Brandt, New York, 1983

Exhibition History

Heroes: Principles of African Greatness, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 16, 2019–October 3, 2021

Kongo: Power and Majesty, Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 18, 2015–January 3, 2016

Inscribing Meaning: Writing and Graphic Systems in African Art, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, May 9- August 26, 2007; Fowler Museum at University of California, Los Angeles, October 14, 2007-February 17, 2008

Treasures, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 17, 2004-August 15, 2005

Icons: Ideals and Power in the Art of Africa, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., October 25, 1989-September 3, 1990

History, Context, Materials: Selections from the Permanent Collection of the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 12, 1985-January 5, 1986

Published References

Arnoldi, Mary Jo and Christine Mullen Kreamer. 1995. Crowning Achievements: African Arts of Dressing the Head. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, p. 43, no. 2.16.

Binkley, David, Bryna Freyer, Christine Mullen Kreamer, Andrea Nicolls and Allyson Purpura. 2011. "Building a National Collection of African Art: The Life History of a Museum." Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display, ed. by Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Christa Clarke. Seattle: University of Washington Press, p. 270, no. 13.3.

Blier, Suzanne Preston. 1998. The Royal Arts of Africa: The Majesty of Form. London: Lawrence King, p. 221, no. 180.

Cole, Herbert M. 1989. Icons: Ideals and Power in the Art of Africa. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, p. 90, no. 100.

De Smet, P.A.G.M. 1998. "Traditional Pharmacology and Medicine in Africa." Journal of Ethnopharmacology 63 (125), no. 134b.

Dumouchelle, Kevin D. Heroes: Principles of African Greatness. Munich: Hirmer, 2023, pp. 110-111.

Freyer, Bryna M. and Christine Mullen Kreamer. 2010. "The Collection of the National Museum of African Art Smithsonian Institution." Sculpture Review LIX (1), p. 22.

Kerchache, Jacques, Jean-Louis Paudrat and Lucien Stephan. 1988. L'art africain. Paris: Mazenod, p. 245, no. 234.

Kleiner, Fred S. 2008. Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Global History (13th edition). Cengage Learning.

Kleiner, Fred S. 2009. Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Global History (13th edition). Cengage Learning, p. 893, no. 34-7.

Kreamer, Christine Mullen. 2003. " A Tribute to Roy Sieber: Part 2." African Arts 36 (2), pp. 16, 19, no. 17.

Lagamma, Alisa and Blackmore, Josiah. 2015. Kongo: Power and Majesty. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Lehuard, Raoul. 1989. Art Bakongo: Les Centres de Style, Vol. II. Arnouville: Arts d'Afrique Noire, pp. 464-465, no. J 1-1-6.

National Museum of African Art. 1999. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, pp. 113-114, no. 78A.

National Museum of African Art. 2004. Treasures. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Park, Edwards. 1983. Treasures of the Smithsonian. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, p. 377.

Patton, Sharon F. 2004. Treasures: Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Folio.

Robbins, Warren M. and Nancy I. Nooter. 1989. African Art in American Collections. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 358-359, no. 931.

Rossi, Milene C. Les Phemba: une mére un enfant des influences. Saint-Maur-des-Fossés: E´ditions Se´pia.

Turner, Jane (ed). 1996. "Africa." The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 1. New York: Grove, p. 275, no. 40.

Content Statement

As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.

Image Requests

High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/

Date

Mid-19th to early 20th century

Maker

Kongo artist

Geography

Mayombe region, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Topic

Fertility

mother and child

male

female

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

Credit Line

Purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program

Data Source

National Museum of African Art

Object number

83-3-6

Type

Figure

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Medium

Wood (Nauclea latifolia), glass, glass beads, brass tacks, pigment

Dimensions

H x W x D: 25.7 x 10.5 x 10.2 cm (10 1/8 x 4 1/8 x 4 in.)

Record ID

nmafa_83-3-6

Metadata Usage

Usage conditions apply

GUID

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys7584bb931-ccef-42c0-9c4a-7f4c17ff05b2