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Figure: Seated Female Supporting Figure with Clasped Hands

19th–early 20th century
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
In the Mayombe region, the term “Phemba” designates the mother and founder of a clan. In view of contextual information gathered relating to the figure collected by the Protestant missionary Léo Bittremieux, all Kongo “mother and child” sculptures have been categorized as phemba and described as instruments used by priests. This assumption is problematic, given that Kongo carvers produced closely related sculptural forms for different patrons, including staffs of office for chiefs and masks and minkisi commissioned by priests. In the absence of documentation concerning a specific work’s original use, determining its role is speculative.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Figure: Seated Female Supporting Figure with Clasped Hands
  • Artist: Master of Kasadi
  • Date: 19th–early 20th century
  • Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo; Republic of the Congo; Cabinda, Angola
  • Culture: Kongo peoples, Yombe group
  • Medium: Wood, metal, kaolin
  • Dimensions: H: 11 5/8 in. (29.5 cm)
  • Classification: Wood-Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Collection of Julietta Scharf, Germany
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing