ART on view and commanding matriarch holds forth her progeny in the form of a supine adult fi gure that clasps its hands in a gesture of prayer, or one that underscores the act of generating new life (fi gs. 32, 33). In others, the focal point is the tender intimacy with which a nurturing parent provides sustenance to a vulnerable newborn suckling at her breast (fi g. 28). Although mother-and-child depictions were produced en masse by Kongo sculptors during the nineteenth century, 12082 only one of these was documented in terms of its original use by an nganga (fi g. 34). That work was an instrument that afforded its owner the mystical powers FIG. 27 (left): Power fi gure of a standing female with child (wife of Mabyaala), nkisi. Kongo peoples; Vili group, Loango coast, Cabinda, Angola. 19th century (inventoried 1885). Wood, beads, glass, fi ber, copper, resin. H: 38.5 cm. Collection Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen, Netherlands (RV- 2668-2101). FIG. 28 (right): Seated female nursing child. Kongo peoples; Yombe group, Bula Naku, near Tshela, Democratic Republic of the Congo. 19th–early 20th century (inventoried 1924). Wood, glass, metal. H: 26 cm. Private collection. FIG. 29 (facing page, top): Master of Kasadi Workshop, kumbi bed panel with six seated fi gures and a dog. Kongo peoples; Yombe group, Kangu village(?), Democratic Republic of the Congo. 19th–early 20th century (inventoried 1934). Wood (Adansonia digitata L.), pigment. W: 86 cm. Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium (EO.0.0.35776).
•TribalPaginaIntera.indd
To see the actual publication please follow the link above