A carved wooden sculpture with enlarged and flattened head and some incised designs, a well worn surface patina indicates good age and handling. Although often referred to as dolls, they are fertility idols and are consecrated by priests and carried by women who hope to conceive a child. The flat, disklike head is a strongly exaggerated convention of the Akan ideal of beauty: a high, oval forehead, slightly flattened in actual practice by gentle modeling of an infant's soft cranial bones. The flattened shape of the sculpture also serves a practical purpose, since women carry the figures against their backs wrapped in their skirt, evoking the manner that infants are carried. Ashanti peoples, Ghana, Africa. The sculpture measures 11 inches tall ( 13.25 inches tall on professional display stand which is included) Provenance: Dr Jean & Noble Endicott collection, New York, New York.

Good, very well handled