Figure of a Mother Holding a Child (Lupingu lwa Cibola)
Arts of Africa
ART OF TRAUMA
Both of these very different Congolese works are deeply emotional expressions. One was commissioned to resolve a personal trauma, while the other represents a viscerally remembered social upheaval from the colonial era.
Figures like this mother and child were believed to offer protection, through the intervention of spirits, by the Bwanga Bwa Cibola society. When a woman lost successive children through miscarriages or early infant death, she could be initiated into the society to protect herself from ominous forces suspected to be the cause of the deaths. This emotionally gripping figure is considered to be one of the great masterpieces of African art.
Tshibumba's painting depicts the slaughter of striking mineworkers in Lubumbashi at the order of the Belgian colonial government on December 9, 1941. The artist critiques the institutions complicit in the colonial system: Belgium (represented by the flag), the church, the mining company, the colonial governor (with arm raised), and the Congolese soldiers in the colonial army. Following independence in 1960, a market for narrative painting developed among urban Congolese who were working in mining factories and living in new, Western-style homes.
MEDIUM
Wood, copper alloy, palm oil, tukula, organic materials
DATES
19th century
DIMENSIONS
14 x 3 3/8 x 3 1/2 in. (35.6 x 8.6 x 8.9 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
50.124
CREDIT LINE
Museum Collection Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
A wood maternity figure of a woman holding a child which twists her arms. The face of the woman shows elaborate scarification. Below the chest the body is not well defined and narrows considerably. The navel is quite prominent but the remainder of the figure is like a staff. There is no indication of the legs etc.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Lulua. Figure of a Mother Holding a Child (Lupingu lwa Cibola), 19th century. Wood, copper alloy, palm oil, tukula, organic materials, 14 x 3 3/8 x 3 1/2 in. (35.6 x 8.6 x 8.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 50.124. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 50.124_view2_SL4.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 50.124_view2_SL4.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2014
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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RECORD COMPLETENESS
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we welcome any additional information you might have.
It is next to Serapis.
Figures like this mother and child were believed to offer protection, through the intervention of spirits, by the Bwanga Bwa Cibola society. When a woman lost successive children through miscarriages or early infant death, she could be initiated into the society to protect herself from ominous forces suspected to be the cause of the deaths. This emotionally gripping figure is considered to be one of the great masterpieces of African art.
How was this displayed when it was created?
Great question! The long stem-like element is designed to stick into a pot that would contain ceremonial materials that, in conjunction with the sculpture, would assist in a woman's efforts to get pregnant.
This pieces represents a very beautiful woman holding a child and was commission especially by a (presumably) wealthy woman who wished to bear children.
It seems to have a copper horn on the figure. What is the significance of that.
It may be a reference to the spiritual belief that the ancestral spirit is sealed within the carving.
