ASANTE, GHANA

Disk-headed akuaba figures are perhaps one of the most iconic forms in the African sculptural corpus. They are ritually consecrated images of children carried by aspiring mothers who wish to overcome barrenness and conceive through the power of community spirits. Their use arose from an ancestral legend about a woman named Akua who used such a figure for exactly this purpose. Akuaba (“Akua’s child”) are carried flat against the small of the back and wrapped in skirts, just as a human child would be. After aiding a successful pregnancy, the figures are placed in shrines in testament to the spirits’ power, or kept by the family as a reminder of their child.

This beautiful akuaba shows a quite traditional form, with a wide disk head, horizontal arms, cylindrical torso, small breasts and umbilicus, and a neck of stacked rings suggesting robust health. The rendering of the well-proportioned face holds particular sensitivity, with large eyes that are cut with subtle depressions to define a browline and cheekbones. This gentle working of the surface creates an understated sense of dimension that is heightened by sublime reflections off the refined, lustrous, black patina. Faint linear designs are incised on the cheeks, and beads wrap the base of the figure. The reverse side is engraved with a geometric plan on the head, and light incisions are found on the torso. A portion of the left arm is missing.