FALI RITUAL DOLLS, Cameroon

Click on a name to see larger images.

 

FALI
Doll 1
9"
$250

FALI
Doll 2
8"
$400 

 

FALI
Doll 7
8.5"
$350

 

FALI
Doll 10
6.5"
$300

 

 FALI
Doll 11
9"
$250

 

FALI
|Doll 12
8.5"
$350

The Fali dolls below have been sold and are left here for reference and educational purposes.

 

FALI
Doll 3
SOLD

 

FALI
Doll 4
SOLD

 

FALI
Doll 5
SOLD

FALI
Doll 6
SOLD
 

 

FALI
Doll 8
SOLD

 

FALI
Doll 9
SOLD

Photographs © Tim Hamill

In Cameroon, when a young Fali man becomes betrothed, he makes a doll (ham pilu) from wood and decorates it with hair, beads, and other small objects. He then gives it to his fiancee, who wears it in a baby carrier on her back. The doll is a symbol of their marriage commitment and represents their future child. The man gives the doll the gender that he desires for his first-born. The young woman cares for the figure until the promised child is born; at this point, the couple carefully stores the doll away. ---From ISN'T S/HE A DOLL, PLAY AND RITUAL IN AFRICAN SCULPTURE (1996) by Elisabeth Cameron

Despite their appearance most of these dolls show no evidence of age or use and were probably made to be sold.

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