About the Artwork
Before being granted full power to rule, newly installed Bamileke kings were required to father a child to prove their ability to continue the royal lineage. The mother of the king's first child was commemorated by a sculpture of this type; she was often elected head of domestic affairs and placed in charge of the king's other wives. Emphasizing this royal power, the mother is shown dispassionately looking ahead, while her child's body seems agitated and almost contorted in the act of feeding. These figures were generally placed at the entrance to a royal residence.
Maternity Figure
between 1850 and 1950
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African
Bamileke
Wood
Overall: 23 1/8 × 11 1/8 × 9 1/4 inches (58.7 × 28.3 × 23.5 cm)
Sculpture
African Art
Founders Society Purchase, Eleanor Clay Ford Fund for African Art
79.22
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Markings
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Provenance
Ralph Nash. (John A. Friede, New York, New York, USA)
1979-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
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Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Lecoq, Raymond. Une Civilisation Africaine, les Bamileke. Paris, 1953, (fig.).
Walker, Roslyn. African Women/African Art. New York: African-American Institute, 1976, p. 28 (ill.).
African Masterworks In The Detroit Institute of Arts. Washington and London: The Detroit Institute of Arts and Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995, cat. no. 39.
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Bamileke, African, Maternity Figure, between 1850 and 1950, wood. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Eleanor Clay Ford Fund for African Art, 79.22.
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