  
  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.
  
  
  Title
  Maternity Figure
  
  
  Artwork Date
  between 1850 and 1950
  
  Artist
  ----------
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  ----------
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  African
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
  Bamileke
  
  
  Medium
  Wood
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 23 1/8 &Atilde;&#151; 11 1/8 &Atilde;&#151; 9 1/4 inches (58.7 &Atilde;&#151; 28.3 &Atilde;&#151; 23.5 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Sculpture
  
  
  Department
  African Art
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase, Eleanor Clay Ford Fund for African Art
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum&acirc;&#128;&#153;s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems&acirc;&#128;&#148;no longer assigned&acirc;&#128;&#148;that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  79.22
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
  
  
  
