1974.Sc.28 Doll (Akua'ba)

An akua'ba (or akua'ma in its plural form) is a highly stylized sculpture that depicts the perfect baby. The ideal features include a flattened forehead like those of royal infants, the creased neck of well-nourished babies, and lustrous dark skin. These dolls are adorned with precious beads and other coveted materials. Akua'ma are usually female because the Fante peoples, a subgroup of the Akan, are matrilineal; women perpetuate the family line and inheritance is through the mother. The Akan peoples are composed of several subgroups, including the Fante and the Asante. 

Roslyn A. Walker, Label text, Arts of Africa, 2015.

Cultures
Fante (Coastal Akan (styles and periods)): AAT: 300016012 

Geography 
Ghana (nation): TGN: 1000166

Process/materials
wood (plant material): AAT: 300011914
beads (pierced objects): AAT: 300234006
sculpture: AAT: 300047090

Historical periods
nineteenth century (dates CE): AAT: 300404513
twentieth century (dates CE): AAT: 300404514

Subject terms
abstract: AAT: 300108127
baby dolls (recreational dolls): AAT: 300222050
beauty (aesthetic concepts): AAT: 300055821
body modification: AAT: 300262468
children (people by age group): AAT: 300025945
fertility: AAT: 300379149
Ideal (aesthetic concept): AAT: 300069306
idealization: AAT: 300311112
infants (children): AAT: 300189561
maternity: AAT: 300221442
matrilineal: DMA
mothers: AAT: 300025932

PROVENANCE 
n.d.: Gustave and Franyo Schindler Collection 

1974: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of the Eugene and Margaret McDermott Foundation in memory of Eugene McDermott [1]

The main source for this provenance is the Object Summary dated July 4, 1994, copy in Dallas Museum of Arts Collections Records object file. Exceptions and supporting documentation are noted. 

[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

IMAGE ASSETS
188989048: UMO
An Asante woman has tucked an akua'ba into her wrapper, just as an infant might be carried, in hopes that she will have an equally beautiful child. Ghana, 1972.

Apply to objects where number equals 1974.Sc.28