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Dispatch time: 3-5 business days
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Sese wood, hand carved and stained dark, which the maker lists as Royal Sese wood. A separately strung beaded necklace sits at the throat.
25 x 10cm, the maker's own measurement. It stands on its own carved base.
Delivery price and timing are shown for your address before you pay.
Dispatch time: 3-5 business days.
Returns: Returns within 7 days.
Sold as a carved figure and a piece of Akan art. No claim is made about fertility or health, and the story described is the tradition attached to the form. Hand carved from a natural material, so grain, colour and finish vary and yours will differ from the photograph. The beaded necklace is strung separately. One photograph, front view only.
Akuaba is one of the most recognisable forms in Akan art, and the story behind it is worth knowing before you own one. A woman named Akua wanted a child, was told at a shrine to have a figure carved and to look after it as though it were her own, and in time she had a daughter. People called the child Akua'ba, Akua's child, and the figures kept the name. Women carried them, and afterwards they were often left at a shrine as thanks or kept in the house. The high forehead is read as wisdom and the ringed neck as health and prosperity, so the figure is an image of a wished for child rather than a portrait of a real one. Sese, the wood it is cut from, is the timber of the Ghanaian stool, used for the everyday asesedwa and for the carved stools of chiefs.
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Returns within 7 days.
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A carved wooden Akuaba figure, 25cm tall, with the large flat disc head of the best known Akan form, a ringed body and a beaded necklace at the throat. Akuaba means Akua's child. The name comes from an Akan account of a woman called Akua who could not conceive, was advised at a shrine to have a small figure carved and to carry and care for it as a child, and who later gave birth. Her neighbours are said to have greeted the baby as Akua's child, and the figures have carried the name since. They stand for motherhood, for healthy children and for a family line continuing. The carving follows the conventions rather than inventing them. The head is the flat disc that most people picture when they think of an akuaba, the forehead is high, which is read as wisdom, and the neck and body are ringed, which is read as health and wellbeing. The face is small and still against the size of the head, which is the whole effect of the form. Akuaba are carved by Akan peoples across Ghana, the Asante and the Fante among them. This gallery works from Cape Coast, which is in Fante country. It stands on its own base. The maker gives the size as 25 by 10cm. This is sold as a carved figure and a piece of Akan art. It is hand carved from a natural material, so the grain and the finish differ from one to the next, and the beaded necklace is strung separately and sits loose at the throat. Dust it with a dry soft cloth and keep it out of direct sun.
Discover authenthic African art, crafts and heritage from Ghana. Curated with passion, connecting Africas timeless culture with the world.
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£200.00
