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Fertility Doll (Akuaba)
12 3/8 x 4 7/8 in. (31.4 x 12.4 cm)Asante artist
Ghana
Asante; made in Ghana
Object Type:
Sculpture
Medium and Support:
Wood
Credit Line:
General Acquisitions Fund
Accession Number:
1967.31
Location: Currently on view
Fertility is a universal human concern that has long been a central issue in Africa where the infant mortality rate remains high to this day. An akuaba is a fertility talisman meant to aid an Asante woman yearning to become a mother. The horned hairdo of this akuaba is that of a priestess and indicates the child, if allowed to live, will become a priestess dedicated to a goddess. Normally it is not necessary to dedicate a child; this is more common among older women who had already lost several children.
Akuaba are affectionately bathed, dressed, fed and carried by women as they would a living child. Their slight, flat shape is designed to be carried on a woman’s back in her cloth wrapper. When the woman’s child survives childhood, the akuaba is sometimes placed in a shrine as an offering of thanks to the god responsible. Almost all of these fertility dolls are female as the Asante are a matrilineal society and most women wish for daughters to carry on their family line.
[Gallery label text, 2009]
Akuaba are affectionately bathed, dressed, fed and carried by women as they would a living child. Their slight, flat shape is designed to be carried on a woman’s back in her cloth wrapper. When the woman’s child survives childhood, the akuaba is sometimes placed in a shrine as an offering of thanks to the god responsible. Almost all of these fertility dolls are female as the Asante are a matrilineal society and most women wish for daughters to carry on their family line.
[Gallery label text, 2009]
Provenance
Everett Rassiga (1922-2003), New York (dealer); purchased from him by the Gallery in 1967
Keywords
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Additional Images
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Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:
- Traditional Art of Black Africa Memorial Art Gallery 11/14/1969 - 12/28/1969
- Man, The Incomplete God 11/19/1977 - 2/12/1978
- Black History Month Exhibition 2/1/1983 - 3/4/1983
Bibliography
This object has the following bibliographic references:
- Article Title: Acquisitions. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Memorial Art Gallery. Gallery Notes. Rochester, New York: Memorial Art Gallery, 1935-1995. Volume Number: 33, Issue Number: 3. Issue Date: November 1967.
- Article Scope: Reproduction only. Memorial Art Gallery. Handbook Supplement : acquisitions, 1962-68. Rochester, New York: University of Rochester Press, 1968.
Portfolio List
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This object is a member of the following portfolios: