Fertility and children are the most frequent themes in the wooden sculptures of the Ashanti (Asante).
Inheritance was through the maternal line, so a woman's essential role was to bear
children, preferably girls.
Mother-and-child figures show the mother nursing or holding her
breast, as with this figure. Such gestures express ideas about nurturing, the family, and the continuity of life.
Ex. Leonard Kahan Gallery, NY (purchased in 1992), and ex. Christopher and Genevieve McConnell collection.
Height: 21 ¼" x Width: 8" x Depth: 7". Some old damage to left side of head.
Published in the book Values in African Art and Culture by Charles Bordogna.
Ex. Leonard Kahan Gallery, New York and Ex. Christopher and Genevieve McConnell collection.
