A group of wooden fertility dolls from northern Cameroon, attributed to the Dowayo, Dupa, Guisiga and Fali. The doll shown has a carved wooden head, arms and legs, with the body bound in leather.

1. Form and Material

The doll in the photograph is a compact, upright figure: a small carved head on a long neck, blocky wooden arms, and bent legs ending in heavy feet. Torso and hips are wrapped in leather straps and pieces of hide. Some straps cross over the chest, and loose ends hang down at the sides. A single string of red beads sits at the neck. The form is reduced and geometric, and the wrapping, rather than the carving, gives the body its volume. According to the collection catalogue, the type of doll varies within the group.

2. Use and Context

The collection catalogue describes how growing girls treated these dolls like newborn children. They were washed and symbolically fed and, depending on the type, often carried on the back in a kind of child carrier, in the field, during housework or when fetching water, just as the girls would later care for their own children. The dolls were also meant to influence the girl's fertility positively. Since the first child usually follows soon after sexual maturity, the doll had then fulfilled its task and was put aside. A photograph taken around 2004 in a Dupa village near Poli, reproduced in the catalogue, shows a young girl carrying her doll on her back.

3. Surface and Wear

The wood is dark and smooth. The leather is dark brown, creased and stiff in places, with a fine grain visible on the chest, and several straps have come loose. The red beads are the only bright accent.

Summary

Wooden fertility dolls from northern Cameroon, wrapped in leather and cared for by girls like newborn children until their first child was born.