Camille Duyck Collection (1885-1966), Brussels

Pierre Dartevelle (1940-2022), Brussels

Jean-Jacques Rotthier Collection (1932-2009), Brussels, then by descent

Monaco, Forum Grimaldi, Arts of Africa : 7000 ans d'art africain, 16 July - 4 September 2005 

Arts of Africa. 7000 ans d'art africain, Monaco: Skira, 2005, p. 336, n° 44c 

Dartevelle (Valérie) & Plisnier (Valentine), Pierre Dartevelle et les Arts Premiers. Mémoire et Continuité, vol. II., 5 Continents, 2021, p. 296, fig. 368  

This sculpture depicts a powerful female figure wearing a high, elaborate coiffure known as a mphemba, nursing two children. In Yombe matrilineal society, this distinctive hairstyle identifies her as a founding ancestress or the mother of a lineage. The two children she nurses further emphasize her association with fertility and the continuity of the lineage. This work occupies a singular place within Kongo sculpture through its unusual representation of motherhood. Two children, rather than the single child more commonly depicted, cling eagerly to their mother. Combined with her uncommon posture, they create a harmonious and powerful composition animated by remarkable vitality.

Sculptures of this type are generally associated with female cults linked to fertility, which were particularly active between the late eighteenth and the mid-nineteenth century.

This period was marked by significant social and demographic upheavals. In this context, Yombe women assumed increasing responsibilities, combining their traditional roles as mothers and guardians of the household with agricultural and economic tasks often entrusted to men. The image of this nurturing ancestress thus embodies not only fertility, but also the continuity of the lineage, the stability of the community, and its prosperity.