Fante Wood Fertility Fetish: Female

Pale paddle head atop a stack of carved collars and a base.

This female fertility fetish from the Fante is Fante, from Ghana, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is wood. The Fante are an Akan-speaking people living on the coast of Ghana, and they share many artistic traditions with the neighboring Ashanti. Flat, rectangular blade in light tone with visible grain, tilting above a small face with ridged brow lines. Below is a ringed neck and a thick darker stem carved with dot circles, set on a black base. It is 2 inches wide, 1.5 deep and 8 high.

Neatly turned, grained and very sure of its shape.