Fertility doll
Cameroun, Namchi
Vendu
600 €
Provenance
collected in situ (1969/70)Taille
H: 23,5 cm
H: 9.3 inch
Description
wood, brown patina, torso and neck wrapped with strings of glass beads, min. dam., slight traces of abrasion, socle;
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.