A ritual figure from the village of Guili in North Cameroon, made of leather, animal bone and horn. Its design is reduced to the essentials.

1. Form and Materials

The collection catalogue describes a body covered in leather, with arms and legs made of animal bones. The facial features are only indicated. From the head, most likely, two goat horns protrude. In its design the figure is simple and limited to the essentials, yet the catalogue stresses that it carried great importance in ritual use.

2. Use and Context

The catalogue draws on information from a villager of Guili, a very old man whom it considers credible. According to him, this is not one of the so-called fertility dolls that are also found in the region. Those, too, are made of leather with limbs of bone, but they are much smaller, since they are normally carried on the back, as a small child is later carried.

This figure is understood instead as an object that the village ritual specialist needed for his rituals. The catalogue does not rule out that it served in sacrificial acts to call down the blessing of children. The horns could point to male fertility.

Provenance

Acquired from Boubakary Youssoufa, Guili village, North Cameroon.

Summary

A figure of leather, bone and horn from northern Cameroon whose plain form belies its ritual weight: an object of the village ritual specialist, possibly linked to fertility offerings.