Kongo Funerary Sculpture: The Breastfeeding Woman

(Sorry this is late; I just realized we needed to post this.)

Walking through the Smithsonian sector of African Art, I was taken aback by the honesty of the pieces around me. Every direction you turned, a window opened at your feet allowing you to truly capture life a hundred or more years ago and halfway across the world. The piece that reverberated with me (I found myself returning to study it more closely throughout the curator’s tour) which I have chosen to write about here is the simple yet powerful Kongo sculpture of a woman breastfeeding her baby.
In the Kongo region prior to 1920, stone or wood figures of women breast feeding their children were a symbol of successful reproduction and a family saved through the next generation. Figures like these were commonly displayed at funerals in honor of the deceased; thus, they are referred to as one of the Kongo peoples’ distinct funerary traditions. Not only were they funeral décor, however; these mother-and-child images commonly adorned masks, chairs, stools, doors, gongs, bowls, and other daily items in the Kongo. Its use was not purely utilitarian, though, as there were great spiritual undertones to this image. Simply the recurrence of the maternity image speaks volumes about its importance in African life and minds. However, this specific type of sculpture was very unevenly distributed among Africa’s people as female figures in this genre usually represented one of a chief's wives or his mother wearing ivory bracelets and anklets, which are attributes of royal status making it a sign of wealth, though all, rich and poor, revered the image’s special message that goes beyond its biological base. To see it only as such would be failing to interpret the depth of Africans’ appreciation for this image. This prevalent icon is an archetype of Mother Earth in a sense, the portrayal of a cyclic cosmogony as generations continue, molding maternity as the sole contributor to the universe’s every breath.
To touch on the parameters of this special image in African culture, the Kongo people now inhabit territory divided among the nations of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cabinda, and Angola. The Yombe was one of the many Kongo ethnic groups that was incredibly adept at creating sculptures in the human form, especially by the mother and child theme. The example sculpted by the Yombe peoples shown to the left is distinguished by her silent but strong expression. According to these Africans, her capability to bear and nourish her child was absolutely vital for the continuation of her family line. This is especially true because in Kongo culture, society grew matrilinearly, meaning the next chief is inherited through the female line. This sculpture was perfect for funeral placement, as it probably was carved as a tribute to either the woman herself after death or the death of a male chief. If you will notice, there is barely or no emotional bond visible between the mother and her child, nor does the child seem to hold any personality or human quality. This is attributed to Africa’s high rates of mortality, for just when a child began to grow a bond with his parents, their life was regularly lost.
Contrary to the sculpture made of wood above, stone sculptures like the one below were more common in the Kongo region to the right bank of the Zaire River between Vinda and Boma. The practice of creating sculptures of stone as opposed to wood was introduced by a blacksmith, according to African oral tradition. As the story goes, this blacksmith discovered a soft stone (ntadi dya tumba) in the mountains near the Zaire that could be manipulated just as easily as wood. The rest is history, for beginning in the 19th century, various stones, such as ntadi dya tumba, was the predominant material used to make these funerary monuments. This image to the right is the exact one that kept my attention at the Smithsonian; it is entitled Mintadi Figure of Mother and Child. Its dynamic symbolism is one that has helped open my eyes to Africa’s incredibly perceptive culture and art forms.

--Christina Sewell