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Maker(s):Unknown
Culture:Burkina Faso; Mossi peoples
Title:Doll (paog' biga)
Date Made:mid 20th century
Type:Sculpture
Materials:wood
Place Made:Africa; Burkina Faso
Measurements:Overall: 10 3/8 in x 1 7/8 in x 2 in; 26.4 cm x 4.8 cm x 5.1 cm
Accession Number:  AC 2020.02
Credit Line:Gift from the Ernie and Diane Wolfe Collection
Museum Collection:  Mead Art Museum at Amherst College
2020_02.jpg

Description:
Cylindrical doll figure with crest hairstyle, no arms and legs, and pointed, projecting breasts. Incised linear decoration located above the breasts, head, and mid-torso.

Label Text:
Cited from Smithsonian National Museum of African Art website - Wood dolls in the form of stylized female figures are carved by Mossi blacksmiths and sold in the market. Parents give them to their daughters, who use them as playthings and to learn child care skills. Later the figures may play a role in initiation and childbirth. If a woman is having trouble conceiving she may commission a new, larger version of her childhood doll.

Tags:
fertility; female; dolls; breast

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2020.02

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.

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