Phemba Maternity - Bakongo - DR Congo (No reserve price)

The representation of motherhood in Bakongo statuary from the northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, often embodied by Minkisi figures or ancestral statues, goes beyond a mere biological celebration to inscribe itself in a complex theology of vital continuity. For the Bakongo, the mother is not only the one who gives life, but the essential bridge between the world of the living (Nza) and that of the ancestors (Kivundu). A sculpture depicting a mother breastfeeding or holding a child symbolizes the transmission of vital force (ngolo) and the perpetuation of lineage, a sine qua non condition for social survival.

These works often serve as ritually charged supports to invoke the protection of the ancestors over offspring, ensuring that the child inherits not only blood but also the spiritual power of its forebears. The mother's posture, often solemn and frontal, reflects the dignity and sacred responsibility of maintaining cosmic balance. In Bakongo culture, where death is only a passage to another state of existence, motherhood is the act that ensures the cycle never breaks. Thus, the maternity statue acts as a guarantor of social and spiritual order, reminding that every birth is a victory over oblivion and a reaffirmation of the clan's unity in the face of chaos.

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