Mother & Child Casting, Abomey Region

Small figural metalwork cast in the Abomey region of southern Benin. Abomey, once the capital of the prosperous Kingdom of Dahomey, was a commercial hub and epicenter of the 18th and 19th century international slave trade. Metalworks such as this one made of copper alloy were produced for local consumption as well as export. This 5″ casting depicts a mother holding her child in one arm and wielding a pestle in the other, a cooking implement used for grinding cornmeal or cassava across West Africa.