Superb Akuamma Fertility Doll - medium density wood and glass beads - Fanti - Ghana

Superb Akuamma Fertility Doll – Fanti – Ghana In good state, but clearly much used over a long period. It dates to the 1930´s. Provenance: Ex –collection of the Fousseyni Ouatara family, Accra, Ghana. Obtained from them in 1977 by P. Westerdijk. The Fanti (Fante) variety of the better known Akuaba of the Asante is slimmer and longer than the more rounded Asante types, especially as far as the head is concerned. This exceptional model has a pointed head of which both rims are perforated and the holes used for beadstrings. The sturdy torso comes in three parts, with an upper breast and belly section, a narrower part below and a trapezoidal base. Fine decorations on the head with many extra strings of beads there and about neck and waist. Super patina from much handling. A true piece of art of perpetual beauty. Literature: Elisabeth L. Cameron: Isn’t s/he a doll? Los Angeles, 1996, fig. 54 on p. 49. Dimensions: 45 x 7 x 8 cm. People / Region: The Fanti live in southwest Ghana. Material: medium density wood and glass beads. Weight: 0. 505 kg. Sold with handwritten declaration of authenticity by Dr. P. Westerdijk, museum ethnologist and cultural anthropologist specialized, for over 50 years now, in the study of the material cultures in African nations that live south of the Sahara.