Koulango Maternity Statue - Cte d'Ivoire #517

Date/Period: Mid 20th century

Materials: Wood

Measurements20.47"

Note: Stand not included.

A female figure with delicate features, associated with fertility, she has a ringed neck and a bun hairstyle, a sign of her high rank. Seated on a royal Ashanti stool, she is nursing her child.

Named Pakhalla by the Dioula, the Koulango formed the Loron in Voltaic territory. The Dagomba chiefs of the Bouna kingdom would later have referred to them as "Koulam" (singular: koulango , subject, vassal). Their complex history has given rise to a no less complex culture. It is between Burkina Faso and Comoé, in the north east of Cte d'Ivoire, that their territory extends. With an Animist Fetish Religion, they address their Ancestors and the Spirits of Nature through sculptures in which the Souls of these Spirits are supposed to reside.