id:			144845
accession number:	1969.7
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.7
updated:		2023-03-26 11:00:40.916000

Mother and Child Figure, c. 1930. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kongo-style maker. Wood and colorant; overall: 33 cm (13 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Katherine C. White 1969.7

title:				Mother and Child Figure
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1930
creation date earliest:		1925
creation date latest:		1935
current location:		
creditline:			Gift of Katherine C. White
copyright:			

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culture:	Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kongo-style maker
technique:	Wood and colorant
department:	African Art
collection:	African Art
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 33 cm (13 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection
	opening date:   1968-07-10T04:00:00
	<i>African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 10-September 1, 1968); Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Museum of American Art, Philadelphia, PA (October 10-December 1, 1968).

	title:		Year in Review: 1969
	opening date:   1970-01-27T05:00:00
	<i>Year in Review: 1969</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).

	title:		Such Sweet Thunder:  African Elements in the Art of Romare Bearden
	opening date:   1997-04-09T00:00:00
	<i>Such Sweet Thunder:  African Elements in the Art of Romare Bearden</i>. Kent State University Art Galleries, OH (April 9-May 9, 1997).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Katherine White Reswick
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
In Kongo art, the image of a mother embodies the concept of <em>mooyo</em>—life, spirit, vitality, and soul. The figure's facial expression, gesture, and posture convey these ideas dramatically. The mother's detached stare evokes the spiritual realm of gods and ancestors while the raised marks on her shoulders signify citizenship and social commitment. She raises her breast in a nurturing gesture. Her cross-legged position symbolically connotes both the circle of life and the lap as the seat of stability and security for the living, her child. During the lifetime of its owner, the sculpture was displayed at community meetings when the person was absent. After the person's death, the figure would be displayed on the grave—demonstrating the continuity between the living and the departed in African beliefs.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Fagg, William. <em>African Tribal Images: the Katherine White Reswick Collection</em>. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968.
	page number: 	Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 223
	url:		

	Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1969." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 57, no. 1 (1970): 2-50.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p.43
	url:		www.jstor.org/stable/25152307

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IMAGES