Bamana Maternity Statue, Mali

Large female statue, or queen Bambara, Guandoudou, Gwandusu associated with fertility. The statue represents a seated mother whose arms hug her child tightly under a large breast. The shape is solid, compact, evocative of stability and balance. The notions of Bamana beauty are evoked in this figure of mother and child. The figure is part of a corpus of a large, relatively naturalistic sculptures whose rounded volumes and variety of gestures depart from the angular forms and stiff postures characteristic of many other types of Bamana sculpture.
The sculpture has a generous tapered chest, high hat, two braids that go down to the shoulders. The serene face with lowered eyelids, the long thin nose and the small mouth, fits into a heart shape. The beautiful oily patina, nuanced brown testifies an old age.

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Origin
Ex French collection