Mossi Biiga or Doll / Fertility Figure

Stand it up and look at the comb. It rises like a rooster’s, sharp and deliberate.

This is a biiga, a doll and fertility figure, carved of wood by the Mossi of Burkina Faso in the 20th century. Among the Mossi, such figures were associated with girls and with the hope of future children. Fifteen and a half inches tall, it has a long neck and broad, squared shoulders. Small drilled dots mark the upper chest. The arms hang long, hands near the hips, and the legs bend slightly above big flat feet.

The brown patina has a soft sheen. An age split runs down the body. Both are part of the account.