Lemba Staff: Finial with Female Figure Nursing Child
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.The Lemba association was devoted to social healing and the regulation of wealth distribution through trade networks. This elaborately carved staff was likely the insignia of a Lemba priest or a successful initiate. Seated in majesty at the summit is a nursing mother. The shaft is subdivided into segments that feature imagery specific to Lemba rites such as a four-petal cosmogram, seedpods associated with generosity, and spiral shells integrated into protective adornment.
Artwork Details
- Title: Lemba Staff: Finial with Female Figure Nursing Child
- Artist: Master of the Boma-Vonde Region
- Date: 19th–early 20th century
- Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo; Republic of the Congo; Cabinda, Angola
- Culture: Kongo peoples; Yombe group
- Medium: Wood
- Dimensions: H. 27 3/8 in. (69.5 cm), W. 2 3/4 in. (7 cm), D. 3 1/4 in. (8.2 cm).
- Classification: Wood-Sculpture
- Credit Line: Musée du Quai Branly, Paris
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing