Akua'ba Mother and child figure

Expanding on the concept of the fertility doll, artists in Ahwia, the principal Asante carving village, have been producing akua'mma that have their own children. These mature female figures with full breasts are depicted as either nursing a young infant or carrying one on lap. Deviating from the idea of an infant girl, they draw on the universally known image of a mother and child, symbolized women's function who is viewed in this matriarchal society as the channels through which life perpetuates itself from generation to generation (E. Cameron 1996:56). She is adorned with beads, signify material prosperity.