African Fertility Doll Collectible Wood and Cotton Sculpture, "Akuaba of the Ashanti I"

Abdulai Osman Adam reinterprets tradition with his extraordinary version of the legendary Akuaba, the fertility doll of the Ashanti people. According to legend, there once was a woman who couldn't conceive, so the village priest told her to craft a doll, dress it and look after it as she would a child. Soon she'd have a child of her own. Custom persists and many women prepare their own Akuaba doll, and when the child is born, Akuaba is given as the baby's first toy. Adam carves this sese wood sculpture by hand and adorns her elaborate headdress with African cotton batik and superbly detailed aluminum plates.