Artwork Page for Doll

Details / Information for Doll

Doll

1900s

Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Ibibio style, unknown artist

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Medium
Wood, kaolin, and paint
Credit Line
Gift of Harry W. Langworthy 1996.267.2
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

Dolls like this were sold at markets where they were purchased as symbolic playthings for girls or souvenirs for tourists.

Description

Young Ibibio girls would play with dolls for fun. The dolls also took on deeper significance when a girl entered seclusion to go through preparations for adulthood and marriage, representing her future children and promoting her fertility. The kaolin (white clay) that once covered the figures' bodies has been worn off, possibly through handling during play. Thin lines represent uli, a kind of body painting. Upraised, foreshortened hands with open fingers were typical of dolls carved by Ibibio people from the Anang group.
A light-brown wood and kaolin carving depicts a slender standing figure. Their head features a pointed cap with black horizontal bands above narrow slit eyes and a small, straight mouth. Short, square arms project forward from the chest. Black painted zig-zags and oval patterns decorate the torso and legs, while the weathered surface shows remnants of white pigment. The body tapers down into simple, blocky feet at the base.

Doll

1900s

Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Ibibio style, unknown artist

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