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Source Description
Young Ibibio girls would play with dolls for fun. They also took on deeper significance when a girl entered seclusion to go through preparations for adulthood and marriage, representing her future children and promoting her fertility. The kaolin (white clay) that once covered the figures' bodies has been worn off, possibly through handling during play. Thin lines represent <em>uli</em>, a kind of body painting. Upraised, foreshortened hands with open fingers were typical of dolls carved by Ibibio people from the Anang group.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
159496
label
Pair of Dolls
core
obj
dtoType
sculpture
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
159496
contentType
sculpture
title
Pair of Dolls
description
Young Ibibio girls would play with dolls for fun. They also took on deeper significance when a girl entered seclusion to go through preparations for adulthood and marriage, representing her future children and promoting her fertility. The kaolin (white clay) that once covered the figures' bodies has been worn off, possibly through handling during play. Thin lines represent <em>uli</em>, a kind of body painting. Upraised, foreshortened hands with open fingers were typical of dolls carved by Ibibio people from the Anang group.
date
1900s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79979151
genreSpecific
Sculpture
imageCount
1
source
import
cul
Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Ibibio style, unknown artist
accession
1996.267
Source extras
tec
Wood, kaolin, and paint
tombstone
Pair of Dolls, 1900s. Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Ibibio style, unknown artist. Wood, kaolin, and paint. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Harry W. Langworthy, 1996.267
collection
African Art
didYouKnow
Dolls like this were sold at markets where they were purchased as symbolic playthings for girls or souvenirs for tourists.
citations
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art "CMA Annual Report, 1996" (Cleveland, CMA, 1997), p. 46.
creditline
Gift of Harry W. Langworthy
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:16:10.954000
sourceId
159496
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
Wood, kaolin, and paint
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
0cecb0a190c33fed