Figure (kgöngwana-tshingwana/Ngwana sehô) (1800s–1900s): Art, History and Details

Figure (kgöngwana-tshingwana/Ngwana sehô) (1800s–1900s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Historically, figures made from bundled reeds or bead-covered wooden forms––such as this example––were linked to fertility in Sotho communities. A man carved the wooden core, while a woman covered it with fabric and beads. The small size of the glass beads indicates their age, while the patterns can be linked to Sotho aesthetics. Like the beads, the round metal disc that functions as the figure's face would have been imported. While no longer used, records indicate these figures may have been used in several contexts associated with conception, including the initiation ceremonies of young girls, divination rites, or as gifts to brides who might symbolically care for the figure in advance of her firstborn's arrival. Some accounts even describe them as toys. Meanings and appearances both appear to have changed over time.

Object facts

• Title: Figure (kgöngwana-tshingwana/Ngwana sehô)
• Date: 1800s–1900s
• Culture: Southern Africa, Lesotho, Southern Sotho-style maker
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: Wood, glass beads, cloth, thread, and copper alloy
• Dimensions: Overall: 25.4 cm (10 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 2010.208

A detail from the museum

Recent scholarship suggests that these figures do not represent a child, but rather, an adult woman who hoped for one. In Sotho belief, the image of a person can be used to impact their seriti, a concept related to one's personal energy.

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Petridis, Constantine. "The Art of Daily Life: Portable Objects from Southeast Africa. " Tribal Art. (Summer 2011). Pg. 66, Fig. 3
• Petridis, Constantine. "The Art of Daily Life." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 51, no. 3 (May/June 2011): 6-7.
• Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.