MATERNITY FIGURE
Tshikai village, Democratic Republic of the Congo
17 cm. high
Scohy (Scohy, A., "Etapes au soleil", Brussels, 1952, pp.111-113) writes:
“But, in a corner, a small statue, worm-eaten: a traditional “maternity” such as one still finds in the villages of the interior. The magic charge that was placed under pieces of plate glass on the eyes has been removed, and the gaping eye sockets crumble, losing the wood fibre by fibre…... the maternity with its tragically missing eyes, attracts me more and more. As I lift it, it breaks into two pieces and the base remains in my hands; I can no longer resist, and buy it”
Provenance
collected by André Scohy (1914-1994), before 1952
and by descent through the family
Literature
Scohy, A., "Etapes au soleil", Brussels, 1952, p.112