Mother-and-Child Figure (Bwanga bwa Chibola)
Luluwa (Democratic Republic of the Congo; Central Africa)
Mid–late 19th century
- Medium
- Wood and pigment
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- 28.9 × 8.6 × 8.2 cm (11 3/8 × 3 3/8 × 3 1/4 in.)
- Culture
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa
- Credit line
- Wirt D. Walker Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This delicate rendering of a mother holding her newborn child celebrates human fertility. The figure was related to rituals dedicated to helping women with childbirth and preventing infant mortality. Scarification patterns, hairstyles, jewelry, and anatomical details expressed the Luluwa concept of bwimpe, which unites beauty with goodness. Such figures may have served as both containers for medicine and symbols of status, reflecting societal changes in the latter half of the 19th century.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
