Doll Biiga

Mossi · Burkina Faso

Reference: TRCH-16

View 1 of 4 · Press the image to enlarge

Height
21 cm
Material
Wood.

Calling Dolls Biiga are manufactured by the Mossi Bulsa region. They are fertility dolls with abstract features, with a virtually cylindrical structure, with a relief at…

Enquire about this object
Full original description

Calling Dolls Biiga are manufactured by the Mossi Bulsa region. They are fertility dolls with abstract features, with a virtually cylindrical structure, with a relief at the level of the breasts and sometimes the belly somewhat dotted, in sign of a future motherhood. Others can mark a slight narrowing at waist level by structuring the body in two parts. They lack arms and legs, the breasts being the only relevant symbol of motherhood, usually fallen.

The head keeps the morphology of the mossi statuary. Some figures can be covered in leather or carry small ornaments of cauris in the belly, cauri, being a symbol of the female sex represents fertility.

These statuettes are female figures normally carved by blacksmiths, sometimes lined with leather and sometimes adorned with cauris. It's a toy, the one you dress, washes and takes behind your back. It also replaces the child who is to be born to bring luck to the parturient. They usually have the cylindrical body and absence of arms and legs and breasts, symbol of motherhood, usually fallen.

This mossi doll, called BiigaFor the child it is at the same time the strength that will make her have in her day a child and at the same time the baby that learns like this to take care to train to be a mother. The Biiga From mother to daughter or sister to sister. They are fecundity female statues that are real objects of use.

Biiga in I died. means “child”. “child” is considered by the Mossi like the reincarnation of the ancestor who gives him a sighapart of the immortal substance kept by the ancestors. So the Biiga will ensure a good pregnancy and a good birth and protect the newborn by preserving him from the curses that could cause him to “come back,” that is, die.

It is amulet, at the same time as toy, which is transmitted from mothers to daughters or from older sister to younger sister as a family good. It is always a positive sign that favors the fertility of the woman. They are also offered to young women who have just suffered excision to wish them fruitfulness. Fertility is the greatest attribute of African women.

The handle of the slingshot reproduces a fertility doll biigaDark patina left over time.

Further technical information
Attributed period
Mid-century XX

Details transcribed from the original catalogue; they are not a recent physical inspection.

Country on the map

Burkina Faso. The country associated with the catalog is shown, not the current location of the piece.

Google Maps is loaded only when you press the button.

Attributions, dates and accounts come from the preserved catalogue. They do not constitute certification of authenticity or provenance. An object’s presence on this website does not mean it is available for sale.

← Back to results