Yombe phemba maternity figures: composition, status and continuity of lineage
Phemba maternity figures of the Yombe tradition, within Kongo art, place the female figure and continuity of lineage at their centre. Two works in the Dalton Somaré archive show how this theme takes shape through different sculptural solutions. The 39-centimetre maternity figure and the 28.5-centimetre example, both made of wood and glass and dated to the late nineteenth–early twentieth century, invite direct comparison of bodily structure, the position of the smaller figure and signs of status.
In the first sculpture, the child lies across the mother’s legs; in the second, it sits on her left leg, leaning forward. The relationship between the two bodies changes, as does the way space opens before the torso. A precise compositional choice becomes apparent: a horizontal arrangement gathered onto the lap, or an axis rising beside the main figure. The maternal relationship remains central to both works, while the rhythm of volumes and gestures is articulated differently.
The 28.5-centimetre figure wears a tall headdress and has carefully carved necklaces, earrings and scarification marks. Her right hand rests with its back against a vessel; the gallery’s record relates this detail to examples published by Raoul Lehuard in Art Bakongo. Defined ornaments accompany a solid body whose legs support the pose and whose face retains a strong presence. In the other sculpture, the greater restraint of the ornaments directs attention towards the modelling of the face, neck and scarification.
The Science Museum Group’s Yombe maternity figure, accession A221839, dated to 1880–1920, offers a documented comparison for motherhood, status and attention to the body. Its museum record identifies the headdress and scarification as signs of prestige and notes the importance of maternal descent. These observations help situate the details of the archival works within a social understanding of the person, in which beauty, dignity and family continuity find expression through the body.
Their documentary histories also distinguish the two examples. The smaller maternity figure is recorded as collected in situ in 1915 and published in Phemba: Voix féminines d’aristocrates kongo in 2022; the 39-centimetre work appears in the gallery’s exhibition history and the Winter Bruneaf catalogue of 2019. Reading forms together with published records creates a verifiable comparison. Phemba emerge as images in which a shared theme allows differences in posture, proportion and workmanship to develop, each deserving close attention.
References and comparative works
Science Museum Group, Mother and child statue, inv. A221839.
Raoul Lehuard, Art Bakongo: les centres de style, Arnouville, 1989.
