Africa, West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, reportedly Korhogo area, Senufo-style carver / 1800s-1900s
Nursing Woman with Child
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Nursing Woman with Child as sculpture (Africa, West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, reportedly Korhogo area, Senufo-style carver · 1800s-1900s).
The mother’s face, adorned with incisions and markings, resembles that of women who have reached puberty.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as Wood and organic material.
The museum's collection notes: Beyond its specific depiction of a mother nursing her child, this sculpture symbolizes a larger concept of ancestral motherhood that is central to Senufo society, in which cultural inheritance is matrilineal. The darkened areas of wood come from oils applied to its surface as both libations and surface protectants. In some Senufo beliefs, one of the most important founding ancestors is the Great Mother or Ancient Woman (Katyeleeo or Maleeo). In groups that believe in the Great Mother, she suckles male initiates with the "milk of knowledge." Through this process, youths gain the information they need to become adults (that is, fully human). Th
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The Cleveland Museum of ArtNursing Woman with ChildOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.