Mossi Biiga or Doll / Fertility Figure

A girl was given a doll to carry. Later it became a charm for fertility.

That is the Mossi way of the biiga, in Burkina Faso, and this wooden example was carved in the 20th century. Just over thirteen inches tall, it has the classic form: cylindrical body, long neck, a flat, disc-shaped head crested with fine incised lines.

Small breasts project from the chest. Faint incisions run along the torso and above the round base. The dark wood is worn and abraded, lighter in places, with edges softened by years of handling.

The handling is the biography. Read it with your thumb.