Mossi
Fertility Doll (Biiga)
Mossi, 20th century
Physical Qualities
Wood, leather, 9 1/16 x 2 3/8 x 3 3/8 in. (23 x 6 x 8.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Geneviève McMillan in Memory of Reba Stewart
Object Number
2008.188
There is something unsettling about these figures. Although they mimic the human form, their lack of facial features marks them as not of this world. And indeed, they aren’t. Each of these works was meant to carry the spirit of a deceased or yet-to-beborn human.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 2008; Geneviève McMillan by purchase in Ovajadoujou(?), 1987.
"Subverting Beauty: African Anti-Aesthetics", Jul 15, 2018 - Nov 17, 2019, BMA, Kevin Tervala.
Inscribed: On bottom, in black ink and in white paint: "MS 4".
