Claude-Henri Pirat, Brussels

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

Schaedler, (Karl-Ferdinand), Earth and Ore, 2500 years of African Art in Terra-cotta and Metal, Eurasburg, 1997, p.55

Anne Leurquin, La piste du Serpent, dans Tribal Arts. Le monde de l’art tribal, n°20, spring 1999, p. 71, illustrated on the cover and as fig. 19, p. 74

de Grunne (Bernard), Djenné-Jeno : 1000 ans de sculpture en terre cuite au Mali, Brussels, 2014, cat. n° 18

Maternity figures constitute the most frequently represented iconographic theme within the corpus of Djenné-Jeno sculpture, with twenty-two known female figures, surpassing the equestrian theme, which accounts for eighteen sculptures. This exceptional maternity figure expresses the concept of fertility inherent to womanhood through the depiction of a child at the breast.

Monumental in scale, this Djenné-Jeno maternity figure is distinguished by the powerful structure of its mass and volume. The treatment of the torso, together with the subtle turn of the head, integrates the complex, languid posture of the child into a remarkably accomplished sculptural synthesis. The balance between the monumentality of the mother and the supple disposition of the child endows the composition with exceptional expressive strength.