Fertility Figure
Southern Sotho (Lesotho or South Africa)
19th century
- Medium
- Glass beads, cloth, and fibre
- Classification
- Decorative Arts
- Dimensions
- 23 × 18 cm (9 × 7 in.)
- Culture
- South Africa
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa
- Credit line
- African Decorative Arts 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
Figures like this one, made of wood, gourds, sinew, or fibers and decorated with beads, were cherished possessions for Southern Sotho women. Bridegrooms presented them to their brides to celebrate shared intentions to build a family. Women used the beaded figures to promote and honor fertility, and they would also hang them in a place of respect in the family home to be enjoyed as an object of artistry and colorful beauty.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
