Large Fali engagement doll, the sanctification of marriage in African art from Cameroon.

Dimensions Namchi doll are 53 cm high.

Large engagement doll from the Namchi people, who live in northern Cameroon, but also on the border of Nigeria and Chad. Around a wooden frame, the doll is completely covered with a multitude of colorful beaded strings that form its body and twisted hair. The arms consist of leather straps, the ends of which are decorated with cauris. This type of African fetish doll is carried like a child on the back of the young woman. It is presented to her by her fiancé, along with other gifts, with him choosing the gender. It thus represents a promise of marriage and the hope of starting a family. The young woman will care for the doll until the birth of her first child, and then separate from it.In Cameroon, when a young Fali man becomes betrothed, he makes a doll (ham pilu) from wood and decorates it with hair, beads, and other small objects. He then gives it to his fiancee, who wears it in a baby carrier on her back. The doll is a symbol of their marriage commitment and represents their future child. The man gives the doll the gender that he desires for his first-born. The young woman cares for the figure until the promised child is born; at this point, the couple carefully stores the doll away. The name Namji/Namchi comes from the Fulani and means "we have stopped grinding." The name Namchi also encompasses other small ethnic groups such as the Koma, Bata, and Papé. There are two types of dolls: 1. Toy dolls, without decorations, which are carried on the backs of little girls with a string. These are simple toys. 2. Fertility dolls, reserved for women, these are richly decorated, primarily with beads. The larger the doll, the wealthier the man. The doll represents the child everyone desires, while simultaneously being a "fetish doll for women" intended to ensure their fertility. It therefore has the power to fulfill a woman by giving birth to a child. It is also said that women without children or without milk touch or squeeze the dolls of pregnant women to fulfill their wishes. Literatuur : * "Namchi, Dolls of Cameroon, the Dowayo and Their Cult," by Christoph Kruger, published by Africa Incognita. * From ISN'T S/HE A DOLL, PLAY AND RITUAL IN AFRICAN SCULPTURE (1996) by Elisabeth Cameron