Description

This Akua’ba figure is an emblematic fertility sculpture from the Ashanti culture of Ghana. These sculptures were used by women wishing to conceive a child. They were carried on the back, symbolically nourished, and treated as a real infant.

According to oral tradition, a woman named Akua, who had long been infertile, consulted a diviner who advised her to carry a small wooden figure as if it were a child. Shortly afterward, she gave birth to a daughter. Following this event, the practice spread throughout Ashanti society.

Ritual Function

Akua’ba figures played a role in rituals associated with fertility, pregnancy, and the continuity of lineage. They accompanied women before conception and sometimes after childbirth, becoming objects of protection or remembrance.

This is not a decorative object, but a deeply intimate sculpture, connected to the body, the desire for a child, and the act of transmission.

Stylistic Characteristics

The broad, flat head, deliberately disproportionate, concentrates the core of the symbolism. Among the Ashanti, the head is considered the seat of the soul, identity, and destiny.

The face is stylized, symmetrical, and serene, embodying an ideal of beauty and balance. The body is intentionally reduced to focus all attention on the head and the life to come.

Condition

Good condition. Wear and patina consistent with ritual use.

Provenance

Private collection ZAMBELLI/BRUGNACCHI, assembled between 1990 and 2023.

Transferred to the Spirit Land of Africa Gallery in 2023.