West Africa, Ghana, Asante (Ashanti, Achanti) people, ca. mid 20th century CE. A very large example of a painted, dark wood disk-headed akua ba (akuaba) figure. She stands on a conical base with her conical arms stretched out to the sides; her torso has small breasts and a low navel. The narrow rings carved around her neck are a standard artistic convention to show rolls of fat, a sign of beauty and prosperity in this culture. The face is small relative to the head and set low on the disk. The reset of the head towers above, with a cross-hatched motif near the top that may represent an elaborate coiffure. Size: 6.8" W x 16" H (17.3 cm x 40.6 cm); 16.4" H (41.7 cm) on included custom stand.

These figures, always female, are meant to show an idealized form of beauty; pregnant women are not supposed to even gaze upon something physically unattractive, because it might influence the features of her future child. The name, Akua ba, comes from a legend of a woman (Akua) who wanted to have children (ba) but could not, until a priest suggested she carry a small wooden doll and treat it like a child. Even though her local villagers laughed at her, she soon conceived a real child, and the practice became accepted. These dolls are always female because this is a matrilineal society, and so women prefer to have female children to carry on their family line.

Provenance: private Eason Eige collection, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

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#131419

Small chips from edges and light scratching commensurate with age. Nose has a small chip from its tip.