Beautiful African Ghana Fante Maternity Figure

Inches:                    Height: 19 Inches
Centimeters:          Height: 48.5 Centimeters
                                Measurements Figure Only
Material:                Wood, Beads
Estimated Age:      Early – Mid 20th Century
Condition:              Good
Remarks:                Stylized figure maternity sculpture fertility representation blacken finished

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CONDITION
Minor wood deterioration, worn areas, chips and scrapes, fine age cracks, overall condition good. Thank you and please view my other items.

BACKGROUND
Fante peoples, along with Asante, comprise two of the largest and best known ethnic groups that make up the Akan. Akan is a generic term used to refer to a large number of linguistically related peoples who live in southern Ghana and southeastern Côte d'Ivoire. The rise of the early Akan centralized states can be traced to the 13th century and is related to the opening of trade routes established to move gold throughout the region. It was not until the end of the 17th century, however, that the grand Asante Kingdom emerged in the central forest region of Ghana, when several small states united under the Chief of Kumasi in a move to achieve political freedom from the Denkyira. The Asante confederacy was dissolved by the British in 1900 and colonized in 1901. Although there is no longer a centralized Akan confederacy, Akan peoples maintain a powerful political and economic presence. Woodcarving includes stools, which are recognized as "seats" of power, and wooden dolls (akua’ba) that are associated with fertility. There are also extensive traditions of pottery and weaving throughout Akan territory. Kente cloth, woven on behalf of royalty, has come to symbolize African power throughout the world. The Fante akua’ba dolls are different from those of the Ashanti, their northern neighbors. As this is a matrilineal society, the akua’ba are female. They are used as fertility figurines in shrines or worn by women either to induce conception or, during pregnancy, to assure the birth of a beautiful child, preferably, a daughter. The akua’ba is fed, carried and bathed as if it were a living baby. If the woman has a successful delivery, the figure is returned to the shrine as a form of offering. If the child dies, the akua’ba is kept as a memorial. Usually the Fante dolls do not have any arms and legs. They mostly appear with rectangular or elongated heads.


Painter Fred Uhlman words - Most of the artists I admired, Picasso, Modigliani, Deraini, to mention only a few, had collected African art and had been profoundly influenced by it. Shortly afterwards I bought the Baule Fetish and the Baule bobbin which are still two of the finest pieces in my collection. It is easy to see why I bought them and why from that moment I have never stopped collecting. The head of the bobbin or heddle - pulley which is after all only a functional object for the purpose of weaving seemed to me then and today as beautiful as a Greek goddess. The fetish moved me as deeply as the bobbin by its silent tragic dignity and its air of profound meditation.

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