Artwork Page for Figure (kgöngwana-tshingwana/Ngwana sehô)

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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
Public Domain
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Location
108B Southern African
Print
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Did You Know?

These figures were symbolic infants that recently married women would take care of until their first child was born.

Description

Fertility figures like these were used during the initiation ceremonies of pubescent girls. Integrating talismanic materials in their fabrication, the figures were meant to guarantee fertility and prevent or cure barrenness—a gourd’s womblike shape and the seeds within symbolize fecundity. They are sometimes also called “child figures” because a young bride would care for them as she would for her future children, carrying them on her back and sleeping with them until her first child was born.

Figure (kgöngwana-tshingwana/Ngwana sehô)

1800s–1900s

Southern Africa, Lesotho, Southern Sotho-style maker

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