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Photographs © Hamill Gallery
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PENDE, FIGURES
Democratic Republic of Congo
Pende Figure 2 has been vetted as being authentic with signs of use and age.
Usually representing spirits, ancestors or the primordial couple, these figures were placed in shrines and treated with great respect. Through a wide range of style, scale, belief and function the couples depicted share a timeless, serene equality necessary to the continuity of their societies. Traditionally, most of the couples are two freestanding figures, conceived as a unit, and posed frontally, symmetrically, in formal postures and of equal size.
Exhibiting a wide diversity in size, symbolism, intimacy and style., African maternity figures depict the ideals of beauty, fertility, character and action and many signify much more, whether the primordial mother or a legendary founding ancestor. Commonly used as shrine figures, they were often objects of petitions or prayers for fertility and successful births. The prevelance of the maternity theme testifies to the importance of women and children to the continuity of each people.
GO TO PENDE FIGURES ARCHIVES PAGE
GO TO EASTERN PENDE MASKS PAGE
GO TO WESTERN PENDE MASKS PAGE
GO TO FAMILY MATTERS EXHIBITION PAGE