Figure (kgöngwana-tshingwana/Ngwana sehô)

1800s–1900s

Southern Africa, Lesotho, Southern Sotho-style maker

Medium

Wood, glass beads, cloth, thread, and copper alloy

Measurements

Overall: 25.4 cm (10 in.)

Credit Line

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 2010.208

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Location

108B Southern African

Did You Know?

Recent scholarship suggests that these figures do not represent a child, but rather, an adult woman who hoped for one. In Sotho belief, the image of a person can be used to impact their seriti, a concept related to one's personal energy.

Description

Historically, figures made from bundled reeds or bead-covered wooden forms––such as this example––were linked to fertility in Sotho communities. A man carved the wooden core, while a woman covered it with fabric and beads. The small size of the glass beads indicates their age, while the patterns can be linked to Sotho aesthetics. Like the beads, the round metal disc that functions as the figure's face would have been imported. While no longer used, records indicate these figures may have been used in several contexts associated with conception, including the initiation ceremonies of young girls, divination rites, or as gifts to brides who might symbolically care for the figure in advance of her firstborn's arrival. Some accounts even describe them as toys. Meanings and appearances both appear to have changed over time.