BoW-2 / Akua'ba - Akan (Asante), Ghana

Height: 9 in / 22.9 cm

Wood, pigment, beads, string

ex George Rodrigues, Paris
ex Dr John Ross Sr, USA

Publication History:
George Rodrigues, African Ritual Dolls, The University Museum, Philadelphia and The Anko Foundation, 1974, figure 17
Elisabeth L. Cameron, with Contributions By Dorian H. Ross, Isn't Sh/e a Doll? Play and Ritual in African Sculpture, UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1996, figure 51 (pg 47)

Exhibition History:
African Ritual Dolls, The University Museum and The Anko Foundation, Philadelphia, 1974
Isn't Sh/e a Doll? Play and Ritual in African Sculpture, UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1996

I recall the first time I saw this figure, shortly after I purchased the book Isn’t Sh/e a Doll? Play and Ritual in African Sculpture. It was very early in my collecting journey, and as I looked through the book, her large eyes and strong character immediately stood out to me. She also caught my attention because she was one of the few figures illustrated with legs—something I had not encountered before at that point.

Since then, I have seen many other figures with legs, as well as several works in other collections clearly by the same carver. It was not until after I acquired this figure that I learned it had once been in the collection of George Rodrigues of Paris (pre-1972), one of the early collectors with a significant interest in akua’mma and related figures. Rodrigues played an important role in organizing the exhibition African Ritual Dolls at the University Museum in Philadelphia in 1974, which was described as “the first exhibition of its kind ever held in an American museum.” The exhibition and its accompanying catalog were among the earliest museum projects devoted specifically to African “ritual dolls.”

$3000 plus shipping