The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of May 14, 2024
Female Figure (akua'ba)
1925–50
Overall: 35 cm (13 3/4 in.)
Gift of Katherine C. White 1974.211
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
The large, high forehead and the rolled flesh of the neck reflect Akan standards of beauty and health.Description
An infertile woman would be advised by a priest to commission such a sculpture and care for it as if it were her baby. With the aim to induce fertility, or to ensure the birth of a healthy and beautiful daughter, the akua'ba figure is carried on the woman's back inside her wrapper. After a successful birth, the figure is placed in the priest's shrine as an offering, or it is given to the newborn as a toy.- at least 1968–1974Katherine C. White1975–The Cleveland Museum of Art by giftProvenance Footnotes1 This work appeared in the 1968 exhibition African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection as cat. no. 101
- Fagg, William. African Tribal Images; the Katherine White Reswick Collection. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968. No. 101. No. 101.
- Images of the Mind. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 7-August 30, 1987).CMA 1987: "Images of the Mind," July 7-August 23, 1987, not repr.CMA 1975: "Year in Review 1974," CMA Bulletin LXII (March, 1973), p. 97, no. 21.CMA 1968: "African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection," cat. no. 101, repr.
- {{cite web|title=Female Figure (akua'ba)|url=false|author=|year=1925–50|access-date=14 May 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1974.211