"Namji Fertility Doll - Cameroon"
This doll, carved from an anthropomorphic branch of African rosewood, is typical of Cameroonian art. The Dowayo Namji, an ethnic group from northern Cameroon made up of animist mountain dwellers, use this type of doll as part of fertility rituals. Women carried these dolls offered by their husbands or fiancés in the hope of becoming mothers. This one stands out for details which show a certain “refinement” of execution: established on arched legs, with well-rounded buttocks, a long neck surrounded by glass paste pearls and a reduced head, with a summary face, dressed in several layers of fabric, it could also be a fetish doll used in infertility rituals. 
Le Magazine
Rivista Artiquariato
TRÉSORS magazine