# Nursing Woman with Child

- Date: 1800s-1900s
- Medium: Wood and organic material
- Classification: Sculpture
- Dimensions: Overall: 63.6 cm (25 1/16 in.)
- Culture: Africa, West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, reportedly Korhogo area, Senufo-style carver
- Credit line: James Albert and Mary Gardiner Ford Memorial Fund
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1961.198)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1961.198/1961.198_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Beyond its specific depiction of a mother nursing her child, this sculpture symbolizes a larger concept of ancestral motherhood that is central to Senufo society, in which cultural inheritance is matrilineal. The darkened areas of wood come from oils applied to its surface as both libations and surface protectants. In some Senufo beliefs, one of the most important founding ancestors is the Great Mother or Ancient Woman (Katyeleeo or Maleeo). In groups that believe in the Great Mother, she suckles male initiates with the "milk of knowledge." Through this process, youths gain the information they need to become adults (that is, fully human). The simplified appearance of the "child" in this sculpture reflects his unformed, pre-initiated state.