Akwaba Doll, Ghana

Akua-ba doll, Ashanti people, Ghana. This stylized sculpture represents a female figure, emblematic of the so-called Akua-ba statuettes of the Ashanti people. These figures were traditionally used as fertility talismans. The circular or oval head, disproportionate to the body, is one of the characteristic features of this type of sculpture. The flat head, finely engraved with arched eyebrow lines and pierced with a series of circular holes around its circumference, accentuates the symbolic dimension. The protruding eyes are painted red, as are certain areas of the face. The schematized body, in the form of a slender pillar, is surmounted by stylized lateral arms forming a cross. The statuette rests on a modern black base, to which is attached a string decorated with small beads. Akua'ba statuettes were used by Ashanti women in search of fertility. They carried them on their backs, like a child, to promote conception and the arrival of a beautiful child. They could also be offered to the deities after a successful pregnancy.