Kirdi Fertility Doll Fetish, Based

Red beads, cowrie shells, a carved wooden core. Among the Kirdi of northern Cameroon, hope has a particular costume.

Dolls dressed in beads and shells were associated with fertility, and a young woman hoping for children might keep one. This one is eleven inches tall, 20th century. Strands of red beads cross over the chest and drape down the sides. A fiber topknot with a red beaded fringe crowns the head. A band of multicolored beads circles the waist. Cowrie clusters hang at the shoulders and base, bright against the dark wood.

Dress it. Wait. That, at least, is the tradition.