The Art Collection · The Chele Marmet Founding Collection · The Lactation Consultant History Archive

Figures and sculpture

Shanti mother and father figures
1995, Ghana, WoodHand-carved; tag dated 12/5/1995.
Baby reaching for the breast
Africa, WoodModern piece.
Mother with baby in sling, chicken in basket
Fired clay
Mother and baby
Ubud, Bali, WoodFound in Ubud after the 1996 ALCA conference in Hobart, Tasmania.
Mother expressing milk into a bowl
Mother and baby
China
Family in a canoe of produce
Artesanías Franca, Colombia, Clay, paintedThe father rows; the mother holds one baby on her lap and another in a sling on her back.
Breastfeeding mother standing on a lion
2000, Gold-coloured metal
Cahokia vessel replicas, three sizes
Cahokia Mounds, IllinoisReplicas of a vessel found near the Cahokia Mounds site in 1876 and dated about A.D. 1000–1400. Gift from her brother, Todd.
Mother with a fan
China, PorcelainGift from JoAnne Scott, who carried three home from China: for Chele, for Ellen Shell and for herself. The fan is a separate piece.
Mother in a hat
Honey Water Collectables (Aguamiel), Lara, Venezuela, Clay
Mother with large ear ornaments
ClayReproduction of a Pre-Columbian figure.
Butternut and Buttercup, from the Cowtown series
Ganz, 1992, ChinaChele: “I love this little piece because it speaks to the ridiculousness of the ubiquitousness of bottle feeding infants.”
Mother in a lace gown
Mother and child
Sigrid Herr
Mother and baby with father
IndiaGift from JoAnne Scott, who brought it from India.
Egyptian mother on a throne, nursing twins
1998Marked “Sierra Lactation, Pilot Hill, CA.”
Artemis of Ephesus, replica
Ephesus, Turkey, PlasticGift from her mother, Geri.
Mother and child
The Wolf Sculptures, Canada, Stone
Fairy nursing twins
Surrounded by Fairies, Morehead, Kentucky
Giraffe nursing her calf
Kenya, Painted woodGift from her son, Joel.
Mother and baby
Herend, Hungary, PorcelainFound on a day trip to Hungary with her colleague Ilse Bichler.
Mother with baby at the breast, toddler at her feet
Bali, Indonesia, WoodGift from her brother, Todd.
Mother and baby
Jaffa, Israel, MetalFound on the family’s 1985 trip to Israel.
Mother and child
Japan, Papier-mâchéGift from a group of about 15 Japanese clinicians who came to Los Angeles to study with her.
Mother and baby
Lladró, Spain, PorcelainBought in Spain in 2014 to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary.
Seated Madonna and child
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Mother and baby
Mexico, Painted potteryGift from her daughter, Rachelle.
Mother and baby
Nadal, Spain, PorcelainFound in Mexico and hand-carried home by a friend.
Two mothers in hats with their babies
PeruGift from Bonnie Rose, with a card: “To add to your collection.”
Rice god
Philippines, Woven plant fibreAntique. Gift from her brother, Todd.
Pig nursing piglets, from the Pigsville series
1992, China
Our Lady of La Leche, replica
Sanmyro, JapanReplica of the statue at the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche in St. Augustine, Florida, which inspired the name La Leche League.
Mother and baby, free form
Clay
Sacramento memento
Sacramento, California, Clay, wood baseBy a local artist. Found in Old Sacramento with Karen Evon, ILCA’s second Vice President.
Storyteller doll
Mary Lowden, 2006, Acoma Sky City, New Mexico, PotteryMade to order for Chele by the grandmother of a La Leche League Leader, with a toddler on the mother’s back.
Mother and baby
Susan Reifman Kirk, Ceramic
Tiny mother and baby
Metal
Breastfeeding mother
Amsterdam train station
Mother and baby, two pieces
Mother, father and baby
Gift from Kathy Warmbier, RN, IBCLC, ILCA’s first Treasurer.
She-wolf nursing Romulus and Remus
PolymerThe founding myth of Rome.
Young mother with baby in a sling
Hollow clay
Polynesian mother nursing in a hammock
Carved and painted wood reliefGift from Josh and Jen Odintz.
Plaque, replica
After P. Ipsen [confirm this is the Ipsen plaque], Copenhagen, Denmark, PlasterThe original is black stoneware.

Prints, drawings and posters

Beauty compared with Taben Sonja
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 1845, Japan, Woodblock print (ukiyo-e)From the series “Sixteen Wonderful Considerations of Profit.” Brought home from Chele’s 2003 lecture tour of Japan.
Kokonoe
Utagawa Kunisada, Japan, Woodblock print (ukiyo-e)
Abalone Divers (Awabi-tori)
Kitagawa Utamaro, 1797–1798, Japan, Woodblock print (ukiyo-e)Brought home from Chele’s 2003 lecture tour of Japan.
Japanese print
Japan, Woodblock print
Association for the Promotion of Breastfeeding poster
Japan, PosterGift from Sally Murphy of La Leche League International, who took it off her office wall for Chele.
Mother breastfeeding infant
Chalk drawingBought at the 1996 ALCA conference in Hobart, Tasmania.
Leila with Child
R. C. Gorman, PosterSigned by the artist. Gift from her mother, Geri.
Not Quite the Marmet Technique
After Salvador Dalí, PrintA gag gift from her children: a crop of Dalí’s Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (1936).
Milk Cave postcard: nursing Madonna
Milk Grotto, Bethlehem, PostcardBought on the family’s 1985 trip, since photographs weren’t allowed inside.
Milk Cave postcard: chapel
Milk Grotto, Bethlehem, Postcard

Stamps and banknotes

Breastfeeding stamps, mounted
Postage stampsChele commissioned an artist to mount breastfeeding stamps from around the world as pins and table pieces.
Framed breastfeeding stamps
Postage stampsCollected and framed by Sandra Birnbaum, Chele’s friend since age 15.
Belgian stamp
Belgium, Postage stamp
Mauritius stamp
Mauritius, Postage stamp
Marshall Islands stamp
Marshall Islands, Postage stamp
Mexican stamp
Mexico, Postage stamp
Polish stamp
Poland, Postage stamp
United Nations stamp
Postage stamp
Zambian stamp
Zambia, Postage stamp
Hungarian 1000 forint banknotes, front and back
Hungary, BanknotesThe back shows Ferenc Medgyessy’s 1917 sculpture Mother with Child; the front, Béla Bartók.

Plates, glass and keepsakes

Día de la Madre plate
Lladró, 1974, Spain, PlateInscribed “Día de la Madre 1974”
Mother’s Day plate: polar bear with twins
B&G, Copenhagen, 1974, Denmark, Porcelain plateInscribed “Mors Dag 1974.”
Cobalt blue bowl
Estelle Rozinski, Hobart, Tasmania, Glazed ceramicBought at the 1996 ALCA conference.
Mother and baby
Nason, Venice, Italy, Murano glassInscribed “Murano Nason.”
Mother and baby
R. Anatra, Venice, Italy, Murano glass
La Leche League International paperweight
Glass
La Leche League International paperweight
Lucite, reverse carved
3 views
Painted egg
Ani Flys, Painted eggshellOne egg painted for Chele with three stages of breastfeeding: newborn, older baby and toddler.
Handmade breastfeeding doll
ClothSnaps join the baby’s mouth to the breast.
Tapestry baby carrier
TapestryAcquired while Chele taught a Lactation Institute Intensive in Sacramento, California.