Mossi Biiga or Doll / Fertility Figure, Based

Slim enough to slip between two books.

This Mossi fertility figure, or biiga, was made in wood and leather in Burkina Faso, West Africa, in the 20th century. Biiga are commonly kept and carried by women and girls, who often treat them as children. A narrow spade-shaped head is scored with fine hatching, and a short arm juts out at an angle. Traces of leather remain on the body, which has aged to a dry brown. It rises from a small black plate.

About 11 inches tall. The thin kind of presence that fills a niche perfectly.