R. D. Congo, around 1900, 48 cm high, wood. A seated maternity figure, right hand placed on the knee whilst the left hand supports the baby. These figures protected the mothers during pregnancy. The Nsapo Nsapo are a small tribe that originated from the Songye, later joined by other tribes, most remarkably the Luluwa and the Chokwe on the border of Angola. This maternity shows both influences, the Songye's stern expression with finely detailed 'Cingelyengelye' scarification from the Chokwe regions. Marc Felix labelled this artist with the pseudo-name "The master of the sitting maternities', the mother-and-child figures being the most prominent in his corpus. Bruno Claessens proposed the name 'The Nsapo Nsapo master of Matamba', referring to the hill where he developed his style. (VJ)

Provenance:
Former collection Paul Tishman, New York; Former collection Donald Ellis, Detroit (1976); Sotheby'S London, 23rd of June 1986, lot 100; Sotheby's New York, 19th of Nov. 1999, lot 283. Exhibited: Musée de L'Homme. Paris: Arts Connus et Meconnus de L'Afrique Noire: Collection Paul Tishman 1966. Published: 'Art Connus et Meconnus de L'Afrique Noire: Collection Paul Tishman 1966 no. 116, Millot, Dampierre, Leiris and Delange; 'Masterpieces of African Art: Tishman Collection', Katz 1967, no. 197; 'Sculpture of Black Africa: The Paul Tishman Collection', 1968, no. 158; 'African Sculpture', William Fagg 1970, no. 91.