This image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseCarved wooden doll or Akua Mma'
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Carved wooden doll or "Akua Mma"
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Carved wooden doll or "Akua Mma", in stylized form with flat discoidal head, represents ideal of beauty, Ashanti, West Africa, 1880-1930
This doll is known as ‘akua mma’. It represents beauty as conceived by the Ashanti people of Ghana, West Africa. The dolls are traditionally carried on women’s backs like a real child. This is said to aid conception and a healthy and successful birth. The name akua mma is said to have come from the story of Akua. She was an Ashanti woman having difficulty conceiving a child. A priest advised her to carry a wooden doll on her back. She gave birth to a healthy child some time later. The distinctive shape of the doll is repeated throughout Ashanti art.
Details
- Category:
- Ethnography and Folk Medicine
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- A137415
- Materials:
- wood
- Measurements:
-
overall: 242 mm x 104 mm x 48 mm, .12 kg
- type:
- doll
- credit:
- Wellcome Trust (Purchased from Stevens)
