Fertility doll "mwana hiti" · Tanzania, Kwere · ID: 3035273
not available anymore
Provenance
Heinz Ryser, Zurich, SwitzerlandPaul Kummert, Frankfurt, Germany
Size
H: 8,5 cm
H: 3.3 inch
Description
wood, brown patina, blackened in parts, typical form, bipartite coiffure, miniature bead necklace, min. dam., small missing parts;
the term “mwana hiti” relates to trunk figures common all over East Tanzania. Most famous are those of the Zaramo and the Kwere. Until the end of the 19th century their usage was multifunctional. They served as tips for staffs, tomb figures, stoppers for calabashes, ancestor figures, for decoration of combs and music instruments and finally as dolls for ritual purposes.