#7226 African Fali Fertility Doll Phallic Cameroon 10" H W/Wood Stand

Superb African Fali fertility doll decorated with multiple layers of beads and cowrie shells, as well as leather amulets. Measures 10" h by 5" w by 4" d and includes a square black wood stand.

In Cameroon, when a young Fali man becomes betrothed, he crafts a doll (ham pilu) from wood and adorns it with  beads, and other small objects. He presents it to his fiancée, who wears it in a baby carrier on her back as a symbol of their marriage commitment and representation of their future child. The man determines the doll's gender based on his desire for his first-born. The young woman tenderly cares for the figure until the promised child is born, after which the couple carefully stores the doll away as a cherished keepsake.

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