Namchi Namji Fertility Doll Beaded Cameroon African Art

From the Collection of Robert Pearson, Denver, Colorado

Bob Pearson began collecting African art later in his life. He was a n engineer, inveterate climber, and long-time collector of books and paintings. Spurred by the Douglas Society at the Denver Museum of Art, and his friendship with noted collector George Heggarty, he began building an enormous, eclectic collection. His African art library grew to several hundred books. He loved textiles and “material culture”-things which had domestic use, like spoons, cups, stools, and chairs, as well as masks and carvings. His collection included items from more than thirty African countries, and his fine eye gave him pieces ranging from a golddust scale to huge Dogon figural ladders. Africa Direct is honored to have been chosen to sell them.

A well used Namchi/Namji fertlity doll made from wood and shown wearing strands of various colors of beads and additional pendants and amulets.

Namchi dolls-Among the Namchi people of Cameroon, unadorned dolls made by blacksmiths are played with by young children. When beads, bells, coins, and other ornaments are added, however, the doll becomes a surrogate baby for a woman who was having difficulty getting pregnant. The woman treats the figure like a baby, feeding it and carrying it on her back. (See "ISN'T S/HE A DOLL-PLAY AND RITUAL IN AFRICAN SCULPTURE" by Cameron, published by the Fowler Museum-UCLA.)