Maternity figure with raised tray

Lower Benue River artist

Not on view

This maternal figure holds an offering tray aloft on behalf of those seeking to conceive children. Composed in the round with dramatically jutting forms, both the mother and child reflect influences from Afo, Ebira, Idoma, Igala, Jukun, Tiv, and Yoruba sculptural traditions. This remarkable convergence of cultural expressions occurred in the Benue River region, where diverse populations were pushed into contact when seeking to escape an early nineteenth-century military jihad by the Fulani-led Sokoto Caliphate.

Maternity figure with raised tray, Lower Benue River artist, Wood, pigment, Lower Benue Valley peoples

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Maternity figure with raised tray, Lower Benue River artist, Wood, pigment, Lower Benue Valley peoples
Maternity figure with raised tray, Lower Benue River artist, Wood, pigment, Lower Benue Valley peoples
Maternity figure with raised tray, Lower Benue River artist, Wood, pigment, Lower Benue Valley peoples

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