Bernard de Grunne Tribal Fine Arts

Bernard de Grunne's selection of 70 statuettes is unindubitably a fairly complete 'catalogue raisonné' of important Phemba maternity figures. Considered among the most iconic images of “maternity” in Africa because of their formal perfection and the power of their presence, the figures of women with children in Kongo are commonly called phemba. These phemba were carved to honor the mother of a large family, hailed “as a pinnacle and guardian of all the people”, nlunda banti, a mother who raised the children of the whole community. This founding aristocrat not only fulfilled her role in an exemplary manner but was also a person of great power and prestige, because as regent she wore the cap of an initiated chief (mpu). She was sometimes also the sister or niece of a chief who died without descendants. She may have temporarily exercised the power of regent, which gave her the right to wear the chief’s insignia of authority until such time as a new leader was consecrated. The ancient kingdom of Kongo is one of Africa’s major civilizations, classical, self-confident, balanced and full of presence, encompassing vast territories in the Lower Congo, the Cabinda region and north-western Angola already unified by the 15e century.