Flintclay Earth Mother Figurine and Maternity Figure with Chicken: A Comparative Visual Analysis
The roadmap of this essay is to present a comparison and contrast between two artifacts displayed in the Krannert Art Museum: the 12th century Mississippian Flintclay earth mother figurine and the early 20th century Yoruba Maternity figure with chicken. Although there are many areas that can be discussed, this essay will focus on four visual qualities: the message or reality of the material, general appearance, artistic leaning, and overall appeal or impact. Ultimately, this paper aims to argue that despite obvious differences, certain notable similarities can be identified between these two materials.
One typically evaluates artwork based on the message it conveys to its audience (Suggestions for Doing Analysis, n.p.). A beautiful painting, for instance, is one that effectively communicates its intended message to viewers. When comparing the Mississippian Flintclay earth mother figurine and the Yoruba Maternity figure with chicken, one can see that both artifacts depict a similar reality: that of a working mother. Therefore, it can be argued that these artworks portray the lifestyle of people – particularly women – in a country where agriculture and animal husbandry are the primary means of making a living. In both figurines, there is an image of a child being carried on the mother’s back which strongly depicts the reality of motherhood.
However, these two materials differ in their mode of work expression. The Flintclay earth mother figurine appears to hold an ancient tool used for processing grains which suggests that she is preparing to cook them – whether in a field or at home. On the other hand, as suggested by its title, Maternity figure with chicken seems to depict an image of a woman kneeling down while holding a basket containing a chicken as if she were offering it as a sign of hospitality or respect.
When it comes to general appearance, the two artworks differ in many aspects. The Yoruba Maternity figure with chicken provides a more complete depiction of the artwork, giving a glimpse of the whole body of the kneeling woman and the child at her back. On the other hand, Flintclay earth mother figurine appears to depict only a portion of a woman; it is difficult to discern whether the huge round block covering its lower part is an artistic expression or merely an indicative sign of an unfinished product.
It’s worth noting that these artifacts appear to differ in size as well. While the Yoruba Maternity figurine appears visibly larger, both works can be classified as small or small-to-medium sized artifacts that can fit in glass frames measuring about 3-feet wide and 3-feet tall.
Both artworks exhibit hues of red and shades of brown. The Yoruba Maternity figure, being made out of wood, has lighter and brighter shades of brown. The figurine’s color is uneven in some parts; the body has a lighter brown shade down to her feet and the ground where she kneels, while the face, arms, middle portion of the ground, inner part of the basket and chicken on top have a darker brown shade that can be mistaken for maple or reddish hues when seen from different angles. On the other hand, Flintclay earth mother figurine is visibly darker in tone with a very pronounced brown color that turns towards a reddish shade when light-stricken due to its clay composition which is often colored red. Unlike the Maternity figure, it has an even coloring with consistent reddish-brown hue throughout.
As far as artistic tendencies are concerned, there are striking differences between the Flintclay earth mother figure and the Yoruba Maternity figurine. The Flintclay figure appears to be plain and more representative of reality. The contours of the figurine are smoothly defined and realistic, with a distinguishable face that even has two scars. Her nose is large and bony, while her breasts are curved proportionately to her body. Her hands and arms are pronounced but not muscular, suggesting firmness and femininity at the same time.
On the other hand, the Yoruba Maternity figurine is more detailed and artistic in appearance. It is more artistic than realistic in appearance with an emphasized jawline on her head, protruding lips, tattoos covering most of her face, neck-bracelets that make her neck appear longer than normal. Her breasts are pointed rather than curved and placed high above her chest.
In addition to this, bead-like designs cover most part of her arms until where there are hand-bracelets while feathers of chicken manifest consistent crisscrossing curves that complement the sophistication of woman’s appearance.
Finally, when considering the overall impact of the artworks, it appears that both materials elicit artistic feelings, albeit unique or different. For example, the Yoruba maternity figurine may appeal more to impressionists than to realists. The figurine is evidently imbued with the artistic flavor or expression of its context. The overemphasis on the length of the woman’s neck and arms, frequency of tattoos, and shape or contours of breasts may indicate that this artwork is more linear than real. There are even reasons to believe that geometry played a significant role in determining this artifact’s design since squares and triangles are predominant throughout it. Consequently, because it expresses its maker’s artistic leanings, we must evaluate how it expresses art rather than how faithfully it depicts reality.In contrast, the Flintclay earth mother figurine elicits an artistic flavor of realism as this artwork tried to copy reality as faithfully as possible. One can see this in how well they captured emotions on her face along with scars. Her body parts fit proportionately into her body size while having smooth and defined contours according to reality too. The plainness of this artwork is quite apparent since there aren’t many artistic alterations compared to Yoruba maternity figurine with chicken.
In conclusion, this paper argues that despite noticeable differences, there are similarities between the Mississippian Flintclay earth mother figure and the Yoruba maternity figure with chicken. Both artworks effectively depict their working mother” messages and share similar hues of red and brown. Although their artistic expressions differ – with the Flintclay earth mother being more realistic and the Yoruba maternity figurine with chicken being more artistic – both works are effective expressions of art in the final analysis.
Reference.
Suggestions for Analyzing Visual Images
Date: 25 February 2009
