According to Bernard de Grunne, this superb ancient maternity statue illustrates the richest isolated theme in Djenné art. Symbols of fertility, these statues would have been used in divinatory rituals to help women become pregnant. This statue displays all the classic characteristics of great Djenné art, with a rich iconography, yet in a very singular and beautiful style all its own. Djenné civilization, Mali Dating: 1170 - 1330 A.D. Thermoluminescence test, Alliance Science Art - Francine Maurer, Ref : 28.11.14 - TL 59061 (28/11/2014) Smooth terracotta, visible old firing crack, visible old missing parts, very beautiful orange-ochre slip. Height: 32 cm Provenance : Kabiné Djanné, Abidjan, before 1968 Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels Marc Blanpain Collection, Brussels Publications and exhibitions : Schaedler, Earth and Ore. 2500 Years of African Art in Terra-cotta and Metal, 1997, p. 532, #61, Burgrieden-Rot, Germany, Museum Villa Rot, June - November 1998 Leurquin, "La piste du serpent", in Tribal Arts, Spring 1999, p. 77, #26 Grunne (de), Dreams of beauty. African Sculptures from the Blanpain Collection, 2005, no. 11, Luxembourg, Banque Générale du Luxembourg, October 25 - December 2, 2005 Grunne (de), Djenné-Jeno. 1000 ans de sculpture en terre cuite au Mali / Djenné-Jeno. 1000 years of terracotta statuary in Mali, 2014, n° 21