African Arts Gallery

Featuring numerous protective adornments and accessories, these doll statuettes are (statues), the incarnation of twins, feature a conical hairstyle made of braids, tinged with indigo. The strings of currants symbolize values of wealth and fertility.
SPatine lustrous mahogany.
In the language of the Yoruba people, ibeji means twin: ibi for born and eji for two. They represent the figure of a deceased twin. This ibedji is then treated as the missing child would have been. It is the mother who must take care of him; she can wash it and feed it regularly. If she dies, the remaining twin takes over. A man also sometimes had ibeji for his wife in the hope of pregnancy. Supporting the twin's soul, ibeji influences the life of the family, becoming a source of benefit to his parents, ...

Here, the "abiku", which is protectively dented, is available in coloured necklaces and a chain made up of cauris that unites the doll statuettes "ere" (statues), evoking twins. Their hairstyle is made up of braids gathered in a conical bun. Hands are placed on the hips. Smooth, sainy surface, residual dark inlays.
In the language of the Yoruba people, ibeji means twin: ibi for born and eji for two. They represent the figure of a deceased twin. This ibedji is then treated as the missing child would have been. It is the mother who must take care of him; she can wash and feed him regularly. If she dies, the remaining twin takes over. A man sometimes had ibeji for his wife to sculpt in order to arouse pregnancy. Supporting the soul of the twin, the ibeji influences the life of the ...

The Zaramo and the tribes around them have designed dolls generally associated with fertility, but to which other virtues would be attributed. Its primary role is played during the period of imprisonment of the young zaramo insider. The novice will behave with regard to the object as with a child, and will dance with him during the closing ceremonies of the initiation. If the young woman does not conceive, she will adopt the child. In the Zaramo, this sculpted motif is taken up at the top of the canes, decorates ritual objects and even appears on burial poles. The shape is recurrent, a stylized head, with a dobule or single crest, overcoming a tubular bust devoid of arms where the breasts and umbilical are indicated by a slight relief. The use of pearls is common in the ornamention of the ...

The Akuaba doll statuettes (plural Akua'mma) are primarily amulets used by Ashanti women to promote fertility. They are easily identifiable by their structure. Their circular head has a high forehead occupying the upper part, the features are usually drawn in the lower third of the head. The latter is worn by a body with rounded shapes whose contours are embellished with necklaces of glass beads. Smooth satin patina. This people regard women as the final arbiter of all decisions. Fertility and children are the most common themes evoked in Ashanti wood carvings. This ethnic group has built a relatively democratic society based on the moral value of the individual. The Ashanti founded a monarchy as early as the 17th century. The identities of the various Akan ethnic groups have been ...

The dolls of Namji or Dowayo , animist mountain people living in northern Cameroon, have only recently been known. These effigies represent the human body in stylized elementary forms. This anthropomorphic sculpture, supported by large joined feet, has a flat circular head with oblique jugal scarifications, an excessive neck with a strip of tissue, a cylindrical bust in which the hollowed-out cup contains a cauri at the umbilical level. Small articulated arms are made of beads and curies at their ends. The bust has diamond motifs highlighted by a series of perforations, and fabric wrapped around the vital area of the umbilical, marked with a cauri. These elements draw attention to fertility. The patina, grainy, and ritual libations consolidated the tissues adorning the object. Cracks.

African art and tribal cult vodun of the ewe and fon
Affubé populations of various amulets in the form of jewelry, horns filled with substances mixed with red clay, metal accessories, dried seeds, and reptile skin belt, this realistic statuette was ritually coating with a thick powder coating peeling locally. The pupils are made up of red beads, and one of the feet is altered. Desication cracks, furrows.
In Togo, African fetishes are part of beneficial or evil rituals according to the intentions of their owner. The fetishists, following the divination ritual of the fa using palm nuts, make them to order to offer protective and medicinal virtues but also offer more conventional ready-to-use versions.
These practices are still in use today are sometimes decried and ...

Trapped in multiple necklaces of glass paste beads giving them a ventru-like appearance, these coupled anthropomorphic figures whose shaggy heads emerge, as haggardly, from this colorful swaddling, have small limbs composed of loops in Beads. A cauri in amulets reinforces the fertility wish. An object of modest size, easily transportable, its supposedly active role does not abandon its aesthetic character.
Wooden base or plexiglass extra.
Ethnie of northern Cameroon composed of animist mountaineers, the Dowayo , " Namji ", " Namchi ", use anthropomorphic figures, dolls, as part of fertility rituals. The women carried with them these dolls donated by their husbands in the hope of becoming mothers. The use of dolls by young African women is not done exclusively within the ...

Very beautiful doll Fanti. The fertility dolls are made by pregnant women, who must not set eyes on someone or something malformed, for fear that their children resemble them. But, looking at the dolls, expressions of idealized beauty, they are supposed to promote the beauty of their future children.

The dolls Mpundu are recognizable by their cylindrical body surmounted by a head whose face is, according to the examples, endowed with little or many scarifications. These dolls are used by members of women's initiation associations. The Tabwa worship twins named bampundu who are supposed to possess magical gifts. Medium orange brown glossy patina.
The Luba dominated the Tabwa in the region along Lake Tanganyika, between Zaire and Zambia. Tabwa or 'be tied up' probably refers to the system of slavery once practiced by Islamic merchants. The Tabwa then regained their independence thanks to the wealth provided by the ivory trade. Just as the influence of the Luba is noticeable in Tabwa societies and rites, Tanzanian tribes have also marked tabwa statuary with regard to geometric ...

Fertility dolls of African art
This ancient copy offers a stylized anthropomorphic evocation whose rectangular limbs feature rough circular hands and feet. Glass beaded bracelets and necklaces highlight the shapes of the object swaddled in textiles. A proportionally reduced head, with exorbitant round pupils, emerges from the set. The crest hairstyle is pierced with a tether opening. Small talismans, in the form of shells, leather bags, calabash fragments, are joined to the adornments embellishing the doll. The sides of the face are notched indicating the traditional scarifications of the ethnic group. Abraded-use skate. It is only recently that the dolls of the Namji or Dowayo , an animist mountain people living in northern Cameroon, have only recently been known. These effigies ...

Fante's African art is illustrated by its fertility dolls worn by pregnant women, who should not lay eyes on a malformed being or object for fear of conceiving such a child. On the other hand, by looking at these dolls, expressions of idealized beauty, they are supposed to promote the beauty of their future children.
This statuette whose head is present on both sides of geometric engravings associated with the scarifications in use features a black patina with a satin speckled black patina. These dolls carved in the Fante, a population akan of the coastal regions of Ghana, former gold coast, form a different version from those of the Ashanti. However, their function is more or less similar. The head here adopts a rectangular shape. We find the ringed neck and tubular bust with ...

The Akuaba doll statuettes (plural Akua'mma) are primarily amulets used by Ashanti women to promote fertility. They are easily identifiable by their structure. Their circular head has a high forehead occupying the upper part, the features are usually drawn in the lower third of the head. The latter is worn by a stylized body embellished with glass bead necklaces. Semi-mate smooth patina.
Ashanti are one of Ghana's ethnic groups (formerly Côte de l'Or), from the Akans group, living in a forested area. Like other people living in the central and southern part of Ghana, she speaks a language of the group Twi . This people regard women as the final arbiter of all decisions. Fertility and children are the most common themes depicted in Ashanti wood carvings. This ethnic group has built a ...

A schematic anthropomorphic figure, whose appearance of the head varies by region, it represents a spirit with which a relationship is established. The tubular bust, slightly bulging in the abdomen, has conical breasts. The thin angular head worn by a long neck refers to the female hairstyle in crest, the incisions parallel to the scarifications and braids of the ethnic group. Locally thinly lit dark brown glossy patina.
The use of dolls by young African women is not done exclusively within the initiation context. When menstruation occurs, the girl is considered a potential mother. In many ethnic groups, the search for fertility is done through intitiatic rites. Wooden figures will then be carved, some reflecting both genres, in many cases coated with beads and clothing. During the ...

Wearing only protective adornment 'abiku' colorful pearl necklaces, these doll statuettes (statues), evoking twins, have a conical hairstyle formed of braids. A specificity distinguishes them, the prominent mouth in the form of a beak symolating in the Yorubala divination and the occult world.
Dark brown glossy surface. Indigo residues on the headdress.br- In the language of the Yoruba people, ibeji means twin: ibi for born and eji for dwo. They represent the figure of a deceased twin. This ibedji is then treated as the missing child would have been. It is the mother who must take care of him; she can wash it and feed it regularly. If she dies, the remaining twin takes over. A man also sometimes had ibeji for his wife carve in order to induce pregnancy. Supporting the twin's soul, ...

Here, the "abiku", adornments with a protective purpose, can be found here in each of the characters carved into coloured pearl necklaces, cauris chains, and metal bells. These statuette-dolls "ere" (statues), evoking twins, feature a hairstyle formed of braids gathered in a sagittal crest.
Satric glossy surface.
In the language of the Yoruba people, ibeji means twin: ibi for born and eji for two. They represent the figure of a deceased twin. This ibedji is then treated as the missing child would have been. It is the mother who must take care of him; she can wash and feed him regularly. If she dies, the remaining twin takes over. A man sometimes had ibeji for his wife to sculpt in order to arouse pregnancy. Supporting the soul of the twin, the ibeji influences the life of the ...

Wearing braids in conical buns, this female statuette depicted perched on a circular base, features a thick metal torque, wide rings on the wrists. Crusty libation residues clustered on the surface. Indigo pigments remain on the headdress. Sculpted according to the Ifa indications transmitted to the soothsayer, the babalawo , the Ibedji statuettes played the role of substitute for the death of the child.
The statues are then treated as the missing child would have been. It is the mother who must take care of it; they anoint them with oil and feed them regularly. If it disappears it is the remaining twin who takes over.
Puted as much more than a physical representation of a loved one, linked to the cult of Shango, the ibedji statues are supposed to influence the life and ...

Belgian African art collection.
Symbol, in the eyes of the Namji of Cameroon, of fertility and fertility, this stylized feminine effigy whose limbs in rectangular volume have summary but digitized hands and feet adorned with beaded bracelets. The doll has a voluminous bust disappearing under a cluster of different talismans tied, horn, cauris, beads of round and tubular glasses, small leather bag. A proportionally reduced head, with pupils encrusted with beads, displays a crest. Abraded-use skate. It is only recently that the dolls of the Namji or Dowayo , an animist mountain people living in northern Cameroon, have only recently been known. These effigies represent the human body in stylized elementary forms. These African tribal dolls are carved in wood by the blacksmith, at first ...

A schematic anthropomorphic sculpture, whose appearance of the head varies by region, it represents a spirit with which a relationship is established. As a fertility attribute, the stylized chest is highlighted on the tubular bust marked with linear scarifications. The stylized head evokes the braids worn in crests by the girls. Satin light brown patina. The use of dolls by young African women is not done exclusively within the initiation context. When menstruation occurs, the girl is considered a potential mother. In many ethnic groups, the search for fertility is then done through rituals. Wooden figures will then be carved, some reflecting both genres, in many cases covered with pearls and clothing. During the period of confinement, the doll, which becomes a child who asks to be fed, ...

Wearing braids in conical buns, this statuette depicted naked on a circular base, features a thick metal torque and crusty libation residue crystallized on the surface.
Sculpted according to ifa indications transmitted to the soothsayer, the babalawo , the Ibedji statuettes played the role of substitute for the death of the child.
The statues are then treated as the missing child would have been. It is the mother who must take care of it; they anoint them with oil and feed them regularly. If it disappears it is the remaining twin who takes over.
Puted as much more than a physical representation of a loved one, linked to the cult of Shango, the ibedji statues are supposed to influence the life and prosperity of the family, and the family continues to pray to them on ...

Here, the protective adornments of the " are available in multiple rows of coloured necklaces and leather amulet bags for these statuette-dolls "ere" (statues), embodying twins. Based on spherical bases, the characters are depicted wearing a sagittal crest made of braided hair gathered in a shell. Hands are placed on the hips. Smooth, sainy surface, residual red bark powder inlays.
In the language of the Yoruba people, ibeji means twin: ibi for born and eji for two. They represent the figure of a deceased twin. This ibedji is then treated as the missing child would have been. It is the mother who must take care of him; she can wash and feed him regularly. If she dies, the remaining twin takes over. A man sometimes had ibeji for his wife to sculpt in order to arouse pregnancy. ...

Akuaba doll statuettes (plural Akua'mma) are amulets used by Ashanti women to promote fertility. They are easily identifiable by their structure. Their circular head has a high forehead occupying the upper part, the lines usually appear in the lower third of the head. The latter is carried by a small cylindrical body whose arms develop at a right angle. The legs are absent, the trunk integrating directly into a slightly wider base.
Patine oiled honey.
This people consider women to be the final arbiter of all decisions. Fertility and children are the most common themes mentioned in Ashanti wood carvings. This ethnic group has built a relatively democratic society based on the moral value of the individual. The Ashanti founded a monarchy as early as the 17th century. The ...