The objects
These multi-coloured plastic dolls, western in
their appearance, are very popular in Africa today. They are a
common everyday item in many communities around the world, but
still fit in the Museum’s collection of more traditional African
dolls from the late 19th to early 20th century.
Above: Yellow and pink moulded plastic female dolls.
How the plastic dolls were acquired
The dolls were bought for a few francs from a stall selling an
eclectic mix of objects at the daily street market of Mopti, an
important trading port on the vast River Niger in Mali, West
Africa.
“I’d see if I could find any of these plastic
dolls. We looked in all the little stores and always checked and
checked. Later in the afternoon, one of my friends said: is this
the kind of doll you want? The woman at the store couldn’t really
understand why I was so excited.
“[The two dolls] were about £1.50. It’s not
about the money; it’s about what they mean to the people still
today. I don’t presume that they are of any monetary value but they
do have significance.” (Sarah Worden, Curator of African
Collections, 2011)
What do they mean to the people?
In many African cultures parents make or buy
dolls to give to their children. It is said that a girl who likes
playing with dolls in her childhood will have many children. Just
like her mother, the girl carries the doll like a little baby tied
onto her back.
As the girls grow older, the dolls acquire a
different meaning. During their initiation – a ceremony celebrating
the fertility of a young girl – young women receive a wooden
fertility doll which is made by their fathers. The doll represents
a model of their future child. To ensure her child will be healthy
and strong, the young woman has to treat it like a real infant.
Above: Click on the image to see two fertility
dolls from Ghana.
A man who wishes to marry a woman might give
her a doll as a sign of his commitment. A very elaborately designed
doll can also be a wedding present to wish the couple a child as
soon as possible.
Instead of symbolizing future souls, some
dolls take the place of a dead individual – for example, in
Nigeria, an ere ibeji doll is often used to represent a
dead twin and to keep the harmony between twins’ souls.
Above: Click on the images to see twin figures
from Nigeria.
What makes a doll?
In the western world, a doll is usually
associated with a clearly recognizable female figure. The variety
of shapes, materials and sizes of African dolls challenges this
notion. The dolls can be simple or highly complex and creative
objects. They might be made from local, natural materials, such as
wood, cane, calabashes, mud or clay. If available, imported
materials such as glass or plastic beads are used for decoration
and emphasize the value of the doll.
Above: Click on the images to get more
information about the materials used to make these dolls.
The two plastic dolls bought in Mali are a marked contrast with
the traditionally manufactured African dolls. Probably
mass-produced in China, this type of doll is sold in many markets
across Africa along with other plastic toys and domestic objects.
Still, girls carry them in the same way they carry more traditional
dolls, and they keep them for years.