Pair of Ghanaian Ashanti twin Akuaba fertility dolls mid 20thC

A pair of carved wooden fertility dolls, made by the Ashanti people of Ghana in the mid 20th century. Known as Akuaba or Acua'ba, these dolls were traditionally carried by women of child bearing age to encourage conception. They were used by various Ghanaian tribes, but these have typically flat disc-like heads, reflecting the Ashanti ideal of beauty, along with abstracted horizontal arms. The birth of twins is considered as particularly desirable amongst the Akan peoples, so the dolls were often made in pairs, usually a boy and a girl.