Maternity Association Figure

This female figure's beautifying scarification and gleaming skin, maintained by regular applications of palm oil and powdered tree bark, embody the Lulua aesthetic of buimpe, moral and physical beauty manifested by the quality of one's skin. The elongated neck, prominent navel and powerful legs further express Lulua canons of ideal human form. This idealized figure, which is associated with a maternity cult, was created to attract and contain a protective ancestral spirit to safeguard a woman's pregnancy and to continue to protect the newborn and growing child.