Ashanti doll (1) - African bronze - Ghana

Akua Ba Fecundity Doll - Ashanti - Ghana According to E. Cameron Is’nt s/he a doll, page 43, a Ghanaian story tells the origin of these dolls. A long time ago, a young Ashanti woman named Akua (born on a Wednesday) had trouble procreating (Ba) . She went to see the local priest (healer?) who recommended to her the carving of a little wooden child, and to carry, feed and treat it as if it were a real child of flesh and bone. When the villagers saw her with her wooden doll strapped on the back, they would often mock her by pointing at her and saying “look at Akua’s child! ” (Akua-Ba) . However, Akua got pregnant and gave birth to a healthy little girl. Her success encouraged other women with the same difficulties, to also carve small wooden dolls. They named these the Akua-ba (Akua’s child) , after her (plural, Akua’mma) . In fact, the rite of Akua'mma dolls is more complex. The doll is supposed to be carried on specific days, it is sometimes placed on a family altar, the future mother also had to drink potion and bathe in or clean herself with infusions. Once the child born, what happens to the doll is variable. Some are offered in gratitude to the healer who requested its creation. He places these on his altar, since an important number of these reveals his power. Otherwise, these were also given to children, as toys. According to Mc Leod, these are also sometimes offered to teenage girls. One believed that a beautiful doll would favour the birth of a beautiful child. In these cases, the Akua’ba had to be beautiful. When a woman did not give birth, she would continue to keep her Akua'Ba and it would be buried with her.