Lot 97
ASHANTI FERTILITY DOLL, AKU’ABA ‡
GHANA
£1,008
Classical Ancient Art // Form Through Time
Auction: Form Through Time - 21st March 2024 at 2pm
Description
carved wood, disc-shaped head with perforations on either side, short projecting arms, ringed neck, breasts, and protruding navel black glossy patination, the reverse of the head bearing geometric designs carved in low relief, raised on a bespoke mount
Dimensions
31.7cm tall
Provenance
Provenance:
Constance McCormick Fearing, United States, acquired 1960s, thence by descent
Private collection, Paris
Footnote
Note:
Aku’aba are used in a variety of contexts, primarily, however, they are consecrated by priests and carried by women who hoped to conceive a child. Traditionally, they would carry the figures against their backs in the same manor that one would carry a real infant. The flat, disklike head is a strongly exaggerated convention of the Akan ideal of beauty, which valued a high, oval forehead.
