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DE Maternidad, anónimo. Figura madera, Benín c. 2000
Standing posture, no breast (left) support.
Adq. I. eb. USA.
Dimensions: 455 x 110 x 120 mm, 2.695 g.
Maternidad, figura realizada en madera por un artista escultor de Benin, posiblemente de etnia Yoruba.
Los yoruba, al igual que otras etnias de África, representan con frecuencia la maternidad en el arte en forma de mujeres con grades pechos amamantando, sea en madera tallada, sea en bronce a la cera perdida, marfil, piedra o terracota.
Los yoruba son una etnia que vive en Nigeria (24 millones y medio, 20% de la población) y Benin (medio millón, 9% de la población). Se dedican a la agricultura y son de religíon tradicinal o cristiana.
The theme of motherhood is universal and recurrent in art throughout black Africa. African maternity statues do not usually express the emotional bonds between mother and child, as they symbolise the fertility of women and the earth, belong to the domain of the sacred and are often displayed on an altar. The mothers are in a hieratic position, very well sculpted, while the child, often a small adult, is barely sketched, especially the body, and there are almost never any glances between mother and child.
In many African ethnicities, the left side of the body is associated with the sacred: in most black African maternity wards, the child is positioned to the left of the mother or suckling from the left breast.
Actualizado el: 24/03/2026
Maternidad, figura realizada en madera por un artista escultor de Benin, posiblemente de etnia Yoruba.
Los yoruba, al igual que otras etnias de África, representan con frecuencia la maternidad en el arte en forma de mujeres con grades pechos amamantando, sea en madera tallada, sea en bronce a la cera perdida, marfil, piedra o terracota.
Los yoruba son una etnia que vive en Nigeria (24 millones y medio, 20% de la población) y Benin (medio millón, 9% de la población). Se dedican a la agricultura y son de religíon tradicinal o cristiana.
The theme of motherhood is universal and recurrent in art throughout black Africa. African maternity statues do not usually express the emotional bonds between mother and child, as they symbolise the fertility of women and the earth, belong to the domain of the sacred and are often displayed on an altar. The mothers are in a hieratic position, very well sculpted, while the child, often a small adult, is barely sketched, especially the body, and there are almost never any glances between mother and child.
In many African ethnicities, the left side of the body is associated with the sacred: in most black African maternity wards, the child is positioned to the left of the mother or suckling from the left breast.