A large Ashanti Akuaba doll
Akuaba
doll,
height: 40 cm high
price: sold
A genuine Akuaba doll in Ghana
symbol of fertility.
West
Ghana is the home of the Ashanti tribe for whom
the fertility doll is very important. This fetish, the Ashanti figure is called
an akuaba or akaba. Of polished wood, and stained black, the
head is in the shape of a large flat disc. The forehead is high, the nose is
flat and the mouth is small. The head is held up by a slender neck, which
appears to be composed of a series of rings. The body, neck and arms form the
shape of a cross, the arms having no joints or hands. The base is circular,
which allows the object to stand free. When we compare several Akuaba figures,
we notice that facial expressions and markings vary. Breasts are small, and some
figures have a protruding navel.
The
doll is carried on the back of an expectant mother during her pregnancy so that
her child will be born beautiful just like the doll.
This stylized piece of
sculpture tells us the importance of fertility and the child for Ashanti women.
Sterile women who hope, by keeping an akuaba with them, to become
pregnant also use the figures. Little girls often learn how to take care of
children by playing with akuaba dolls.
It was
common for a woman wanting a child to carry with her a doll in order to enhance
her fertility.
A rich
woman will sometimes have precious stones or beads on the doll. A pregnant Ashanti
woman would always carry these dolls on her back if she hoped for a
beautiful child. The style of the doll would depend on whether she hoped for a
boy or a girl. Women played an important role in insuring the continuance of the
family line. A man without a child would have no one to watch over his funeral
rites to make sure that his spirit passed over into the spirit world.
A
woman's social position often depended upon the number and quality of her
pregnancies. In many of the tribes it was common for a woman wanting a child to
carry with her a doll in order to enhance her fertility. This doll would be
cared for as a baby, being bathed and carried on the mother's back.
The
egg or oval shape is therefore a shape of beauty for the Ashanti woman because
of the fact that it represents a pregnant woman. To the women of the Ashanti
tribe, the Akuaba is still a symbol of the woman and fertility. Ashanti
women carry the Akuaba statues on their backs when they want to have
babies
The Akuaba
symbolizes life in this world.
The
Ashanti believe that a woman is made up of a series of ovals. The half circle
represents the female fertility aspect and the oval also symbolizes cleansing
power of the female. Ashanti women are obsessive about cleansing and teach their
daughters how to be sweet smelling with forest herbs.
This nice Akuaba
is 40 cm high, and can be yours for 2,000 euros.
It is coming from a private
Antwerp collection. A quite low price for a quite big Akuaba doll.
+32- 3-227.35.40
