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Maternity Figure: Seated Mother and Child

17th–18th century

Not on view

The female figure and infant in this work share many features with the sculpture of a mother and child in the Met's collection. Similar elements, such as the head that narrows at the chin, the raised form of the ears, the broad cylindrical neck that intersects abruptly with the sharp horizontal of the shoulders, and the merging of the hands with the knees so that the arms and legs form continuous undulating lines, suggest that a single sculptor made both works. Additionally, the compression of the figures is a marked departure from the more expansive arrangement of the nursing mother and child displayed on the opposite platform.

Maternity Figure: Seated Mother and Child, Wood, Mbembe peoples — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Maternity Figure: Seated Mother and Child, Wood, Mbembe peoples

Maternity Figure: Seated Mother and Child, Wood, Mbembe peoples

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Maternity Figure: Seated Mother and Child

Date: 17th–18th century

Geography: Nigeria, Ewayon River region, Cross River Province

Culture: Mbembe peoples

Medium: Wood

Dimensions: H. x W. x D.: 37 × 14 9/16 × 10 5/8 in. (94 × 37 × 27 cm)

Classification: Wood-Sculpture

Credit Line: Private Collection

The Met

The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at The Met

The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.