Staff: Finial with Female Figure Nursing Child

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 Kongo society the most important measure of wealth was the number of one’s dependents, including wives, children, clients, and slaves. The high value placed on human capital was epitomized in a Kongo sovereign’s patronage of regalia that emphasizes his spiritually sanctioned command of subordinates. Mother and child figures served as a metaphor for a leader’s relationship to his constituents and the potential for their expansion.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Staff: Finial with Female Figure Nursing Child
Date: 19th–early 20th century
Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo; Republic of the Congo; Cabinda, Angola
Culture: Kongo peoples, Yombe group
Medium: Wood (Saccoglottis gabonensis Baill.), glass, metal tacks
Dimensions: H. 48 7/8 in. (124.2 cm), W. 2 1/2 in. (6.5 cm)
Classification: Wood-Sculpture
Credit Line: Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing