MS_0002_03_0019 Aku'aba/Fertility Dolls

Title

MS_0002_03_0019 Aku'aba/Fertility Dolls

Description

In the Akan tradition, these figurines are created to help women overcome difficulties bearing children. There is some variation in the doll across the different Akan ethnic subgroups, but they all function similarly: A woman requests that a doll be made. The doll is taken to a shrine, where rituals are done, prayers are made and medicines given to the hopeful mother. She then wears the doll on her back and cares for it as she would a real baby, until she conceives and delivers. id her real child dies, the mother keeps the aku'aba as a memorial.

Date Submitted

Ranging from the 19th - 20th c.

Identifier

03

Publisher

Elona M. Jones

shortDescription

Akua'ba Statues, also known as Ashanti or African Fertility Dolls were made from 19th and 20th century wood.

Medium

Wood