Figure of Pregnant Woman
Unidentified Agni maker
19th century
Wood, beads, and cotton
Overall: 11 1/2 in. (29.2 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Evelyn A. Jaffe Hall
S.973.306
Geography
Place Made: Cote d'Ivoire, Western Africa, Africa
Period
19th century
Object Name
Figure
Research Area
Africa
On view
Label
The figure of a woman stands with her hands on her protruding belly—representing fertility. Beaded jewelry and twisted rope adorn her body, and rounded knubs on her head evoke stylized hair. The wood is dyed black, a color that often represents maturity and spirituality. These figures are believed to help one conceive a child and could be passed onto others who also needed spiritual help. - Lydia Davis ’23, Homma Family Intern
From the 2023 exhibition Homecoming: Domesticity and Kinship in Global African Art, curated by Alexandra Thomas, Curatorial Research Associate
Exhibition History
African Art from the Permanent Collection, Barrows Windows, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 9-March 30, 1975.
Black Womanhood: Images, Icons, and Ideologies of the African Body, Friends Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, April 1-August 10, 2008; Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, September 10-December 10, 2008; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California, January 21-April 26, 2009.
Homecoming: Domesticity and Kinship in Global African Art, Harteveldt Family Gallery, Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, and Northeast Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 22, 2023–May 25, 2024.
Recent Acquisitions, Jaffe-Friede Gallery, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 17-27, 1974.
The Ritual Context of African Art, Dartmouth College Museum, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May-September 1975.
Publication History
Barbara Thompson, Black Womanhood: Images, Icons, and Ideologies of the African Body, Seattle: University of Washington Press [Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College], 2008, p. 115, plate 21.
Provenance
Evelyn Annenberg Friede Jaffe Hall (1911-2005), New York; given to present collection, 1973.
This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.
We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu