African Tribal Ashanti Hand Carved Wooden Fertility Statue

African Tribal Art Ashanti Carved Wood Fertility Maternity Figure Mother
A standing Ashanti female figure carved out of Ghana wood. The intricate details of the face with the finely braided hairstyle and extra adornment of original African tribal beads around the neck and waist are suggestive of sculptures from the Coastal regions of Ghana, where iconic fertility figures are common. The pose of the female figure and her protuberant stomach suggest the specific purpose for use in a shrine context as a fertility figure. The Ashanti are one of the several Akan-speaking peoples whose desire for children is conveyed through rituals that are symbolized by an iconic stylized female figure called an akua’ba. The Ashanti origin of this rare full-figure akua’ba is undisputable. For instance, Ashante akua’ba tend to have a disc-shaped head and a long neck, as opposed to Fante heads which are square or rectangular, or sometimes the horned coiffure was fashionable in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Akua’ba figures are often female because the Akan are matrilineal. It is women who, as procreators, shoulder the responsibility for perpetuating the lineage.
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