id:			168429
accession number:	2010.208
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.208
updated:		2023-03-22 03:04:42.077000

Figure (kgöngwana-tshingwana/Ngwana sehô), 1800s–1900s. Southern Africa, Lesotho, Southern Sotho-style maker. Wood, glass beads, cloth, thread, and copper alloy; overall: 25.4 cm (10 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.208

title:				Figure (kgöngwana-tshingwana/Ngwana sehô)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1800s–1900s
creation date earliest:		1800
creation date latest:		1999
current location:		108B Southern African
creditline:			Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Southern Africa, Lesotho, Southern Sotho-style maker
technique:	Wood, glass beads, cloth, thread, and copper alloy
department:	African Art
collection:	African Art
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 25.4 cm (10 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		The Art of Daily Life: Portable Objects from Southern Africa
	opening date:   2011-04-17T00:00:00
	<i>The Art of Daily Life: Portable Objects from Southern Africa</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 17, 2011-February 26, 2012).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* Cleveland Museum of Art, (4/16/11-2/26/12); "The Art of Daily Life:  Portable Objects from Southeast Africa" cat. no. 78

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PROVENANCE

	Jonathan Lowen, London
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Bowmint Collection [Nicolas Maritz], Pretoria, South Africa
	date: 2009
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	(Jacaranda Tribal Art Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: 2010
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 2010–
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
These figures were symbolic infants that recently married women would take care of until their first child was born.

digital description:


wall description:
Fertility figures like these were used during the initiation ceremonies of pubescent girls. Integrating talismanic materials in their fabrication, the figures were meant to guarantee fertility and prevent or cure barrenness—a gourd’s womblike shape and the seeds within symbolize fecundity. They are sometimes also called “child figures” because a young bride would care for them as she would for her future children, carrying them on her back and sleeping with them until her first child was born.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Riep, David M. M. 2014. "Hot Women!: South Sotho Female Arts in Context". African Arts. 47, no. 3: 24-39.
	page number: 	
	url:		

	Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
	page number: 	Mentioned and reproduced: P. 39
	url:		

	Cole, Herbert M. <em>Maternity: Mothers and Children in the Arts of Africa</em>. <br> Brussels : Mercatorfonds, 2017
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 123, fig. 105; mentioned: p. 124
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.208/2010.208_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.208/2010.208_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.208/2010.208_full.tif