Maternité "phemba" ·  R. D. Congo, Yombe · ID: 3045308

Description

wood, red pigment, metal, cloth, decorating brass tags, with magical charge, base

“Pfemba” figures were originally coloured with camwood paste. In the Congo iconology, the colour red symbolizes phases of transition, such as birth and death. So one can generally say that the maternité pays homage to the original mother. She is the guardian of fertility and at the same time reminds us of transience, the eternal cicle of life and death.