Item: Duala Figure Specifications: 42.5 x 13.5 x 14.5 cm Origin: Southern Cameroon (see ethnographical notes below) Medium: Timber Carving & Pigment.
 
Shipping
 
For international shipping, we offer Registered Airmail (6 to ten days) For domestic shipping, we use Ordinary Parcel Post or Express Post both with Tracking. Purchases will be shipped no later than one business day following receipt of payment. We can provide quotes for insurance, please ask for a quote at time of purchase. For international customers who want a tracking service, we offer International Express with tracking, please request a quote prior to purchase.
 
 
Returns
African Origins sells hand made arts & crafts and tribal objects the latter of which have been used, in some cases, for many, many years. We ask that you carefully study the photographs relating to each object prior to committing to purchase. In the event that you are unhappy with your purchase for any reason, we accept refunds within seven days of purchase. We offer a full refund or a credit note valid for twelve months, which ever you prefer. Return postage is paid by the purchaser in all cases.
 
Guarantee
 
A our names suggests, all objects offered for sale by African Origins originate from Africa. We do not purchase nor support copies made in China.
 
 
About African Origins
 
African Origins has been trading online since 2007. We are constantly on the look out for interesting objects to add to our collection. In the case of our African arts & crafts collection, we purchase using the principles of Fair Trade. We believe that Africa needs a hand up, not a hand out. We believe the role that trade plays in that process to be self evident. We do not deal in any CITES listed animal product.
Our tribal collection is sourced from tribal dealers,auction houses and private collections the world over. Where possible, we will specify the provenance of important individual tribal objects.
 
Feedback
 
The success of African Origins depends on positive feedback. If you are happy with your purchase, please leave positive feedback and we will do the same for you. If you are not happy, please contact us first before leaving negative feedback and we will do all within our power to rectify the problem.


Duala People 

Duala, also spelled Douala,  Bantu-speaking people of the forest region of southern Cameroon living on the estuary of the Wouri River. By 1800 the Duala controlled Cameroon’s trade with Europeans, and their concentrated settlement pattern developed under this influence. Their system of chieftaincy was partly founded on trading wealth. For much of the 19th century there were two political–commercial kingdoms, Bell and Akwa; these were weakened by the 1880s.

 

The Wouri estuary now supports a fishing and agricultural economy in which oil palms, cassava, cocoyam (taro), plantain, and corn (maize) are the principal crops. The Duala trace descent patrilineally, and associations, or secret societies, serve as instruments of social control. By the 1970s most Duala were nominal Christians. Their older religious system recognized a high god, or creator, but no further pantheon and no true shrines or priests. Other beliefs concerned the power of ancestors, witchcraft, and magical objects.