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The figures below have been sold and are left here for reference
and educational purposes.
For UNSOLD Pende figures GO TO PENDE FIGURE PAGE.
Photographs © Hamill Gallery
PENDE, FIGURES, Democratic Republic of Congo
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 EASTERN PENDE MASKS PAGE
GO TO WESTERN PENDE MASKS PAGE
GO TO FAMILY MATTERS EXHIBITION PAGE
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