Dogon Seated Maternity Figure on Tree Stump

One child on the hip, another in the lap, and still she sits up straight.

This seated maternity figure on a tree stump is Dogon, from Mali, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is iron. Mother and child imagery recurs in Dogon art and is generally associated with fertility and the survival of the lineage. She sits upright on a tall stump, holding two small children against her body. Her face is long and narrow, set on a cylindrical neck above square shoulders. Pale green deposits spread over the dark metal. She is 2 inches wide and 4 high.

The stump does the sitting. She does everything else.