Fertility doll

Description

wood, slightly shiny, brown patina, of typical form with u-shaped legs, massive shoulders and simplified facial features, several piercings in the area of the head, min. dam., small missing parts (fingers), base;
among the Namchi, unadorned dolls made by blacksmiths are young girl’s playthings. When beads, bells and coins are added, however, the doll becomes a surrogate baby for a woman who is having difficulty in getting pregnant. The woman treats the figure like a newborn. She feeds it gruel and carries it on her back, as a mother would a child. The decoration duplicates the adornment worn by young initiates returning to the village after their period of seclusion.

Publications