Mother and child for Sango

19th century

A mother tames Sango's wrathful thunderbolts as they surge into her head. She reacts with graceful grounding-attending to her child, and reaching out to present a bowl. Many of her features have been worn smooth by countless hands that washed and stroked her in hopes of gaining a share of the serene energy she projects.

Sango who chases away king and householder alike. Sango is my lord, who blesses the wise and maddens the fool. Praise salute.

Wood

16 15/16 x 5 5/8 x 6 1/2 in. (43 x 14.3 x 16.5 cm)

Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

81.17.594

Photo: Paul Macapia

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Media

155

Saheed Adejumobi talks about the Sango figure

Resources

Exhibition HistoryCleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection, July 10 - Sept. 1, 1968 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Oct. 10 - Dec. 1, 1968). Text by William Fagg. Cat. no. 118 (as Mother and Child Figure).

Los Angeles, California, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, African Art in Motion: Icon and Act, Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 1974 (Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, May 5 - Sept. 22, 1974). Text by Robert Farris Thompson. No cat. no., pp. 16-17, reproduced pl. 19 (as mother and child).

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Praise Poems: The Katherine White Collection, July 29 - Sept. 29, 1984 (Washington, D.C., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Oct. 31, 1984 - Feb. 25, 1985; Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art, Apr. 6 - May 19, 1985; Fort Worth, Texas, Kimbell Art Museum, Sept. 7 - Nov. 25, 1985; Kansas City, Missouri, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Mar. 8 - Apr. 20, 1986). Text by Pamela McClusky. Cat. no. 18, pp. 44-45, reproduced (as Mother and child figure).

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Hero/Antihero, Dec. 21, 2002 - Aug. 17, 2003.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, Feb. 7 - May 19, 2002 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Oct. 2, 2004 - Jan. 2, 2005; Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Feb. 12 - June 19, 2005; Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Oct. 8, 2005 - Jan. 1, 2006; Nashville, Tennessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Jan. 27 - Apr. 30, 2006 [as African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back]). Text by Pamela McClusky. No cat. no., pp. 16, 38, reproduced pl. 13 and cover.

Published ReferencesMcClusky, Pamela. "Art of Africa." In Selected Works, pp. 35-52. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1991; p. 46, reproduced (as Mother and Child Figure).

Lawal, Babatunde, Visions of Yoruba, Cleveland, OH: 5 Continents / Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012, pl. 26

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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