Cleveland Museum of Art

Female Figure (akua'ba)

Date

late 1800s–early 1900s

Medium

Wood, hair, resin, and bone

Culture

Africa, West Africa, Ghana, Fante-style maker

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

An infertile woman would be advised by a priest to commission such a sculpture and care for it as if it were her baby. With the aim to induce fertility, or to ensure the birth of a healthy and beautiful daughter, the akua'ba figure is carried on the woman's back inside her wrapper. After a successful birth, the figure is placed in the priest's shrine as an offering, or it is given to the newborn as a toy. Akua'ba are always female, both because Akua’s first child was a girl, and because the Akan and Fante societies are matrilineal, meaning that it is women that extend the family line.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.