African Arts Gallery

Belgian tribal art collection.
Charms of fertility in African art. Calabash-doll swathed in necklaces of glass beads, ribbons, and small talismans, in the form of cowrie shells, leather bags, bells and sao rider. The face is cut with notches reminiscent of traditional scarifications. Height on base: 22 cm.

It was only relatively recently that the dolls of the Namji or Dowayo, a people of animist mountain people living in the north of Cameroon, became known. These effigies represent the human body in stylized elementary forms. These African tribal dolls are carved in wood by the blacksmith, initially for little girls' play. But these dolls are mainly used by infertile women in complex fertility rituals, the doll becoming a surrogate child that they will treat as such. In some cases the fiancé offered it to his future wife, the doll representing their future offspring. The decoration of the doll can also reproduce the attires of the new initiates after their period of seclusion.