late 19th century – beginning of 20th century
Wood and glass
39 cm
Late 19th century – early 20th century
Wood and glass
39 cm
Provenance
J.J. Klejman, New York
Private Collection, Los Angeles
Dalton Somaré, Milan
Private Collection, Milan
Exhibitions
Parcours des Mondes, Paris, September 2018
Classic Contemporary Primitive, Dalton Somaré Gallery, Milan, November 2018
Publications
Winter Bruneaf, catalogue, Brussels, January 2019
Winter Bruneaf, catalogue, Brussels, January 2019
Yombe Phemba: Ancestral Motherhood and Congolese Naturalism
This remarkable Yombe sculpture stands among the finest achievements of Congo basin statuary, renowned for its striking realism, expressive power and historical importance. Yombe maternity figures, known as phemba, occupy a central position in the history of classical African art and are considered among the most significant sculptural forms produced within the broader Kongo artistic tradition.
The term phemba refers to the ancestral mother, clan founder or female figure associated with fertility, continuity and the transmission of life. Such sculptures belonged to the sphere of fertility and maternity cults, themselves embedded within a wider recognition of the ancestral role attributed to women as generators of life and mediators between the visible and invisible worlds.
Seated female figures holding a reclining child-like being have often been misinterpreted as representations of maternal mourning. In reality, according to Kongo iconographic studies, the secondary figure should be understood as a simbi, a spirit-child originating from the ancestral realm and brought into earthly existence through the generative power of the mother. The image therefore carries a cosmological and spiritual meaning rather than a narrative or emotional one.
This sculpture is an exceptional example of the so-called “Congolese naturalism”, a stylistic current that developed in the Kongo area and was likely influenced, at least partially, by sacred Christian imagery introduced by the Portuguese from the sixteenth century onward. Yet despite these external influences, the symbolic structure and spiritual function of the sculpture remain profoundly African.
The female figure follows the traditional canons of Yombe statuary: the head slightly tilted upward, the powerful neck supporting the upright torso and the crossed legs together create an impression of authority and ritual concentration. The proportions of the head are deliberately emphasized, reflecting the spiritual and intellectual importance attributed to the represented figure.
Arched eyebrows frame heavy eyelids, while the flared nostrils and slightly parted full lips evoke breath, vitality and inner presence. Despite the monumental and powerful construction of the face, the expression retains an ecstatic and contemplative quality that greatly contributes to the emotional intensity of the work.
The sculpture is almost devoid of ornaments except for earrings that originally hung from the perforated earlobes. Social status and symbolic identity are instead conveyed through the delicate scarification patterns carved across the chest and back with extraordinary realism and refinement. These details reinforce the sacred dimension of the figure and testify to the exceptional artistic sophistication achieved by Yombe sculptors.
