Traditional Dolls

African child figures are more than just toys; they function as mediating devices that connect the visible and invisible worlds. Every beautifully formed fertility doll has its own story and identity, each filled with the promise and blessing of children.

Ndebele child figures (umtwana wa madlozi)

Traditional Ndebele dolls symbolize both fertility and the hope for a woman to have a beautiful baby. The circular beaded hoops of grass around the doll are identical, except in size, to the isigolwane beaded hoops worn around the neck, legs, arms and waist of young Ndebele women after their initiation.

Tsonga child figure

Tsonga beaded dolls are made by pubescent girls after attending initiation school, and are taken along with the girls to their new home when they marry. The base of this Tsonga nwana figure is a representation of the large traditional skirt (xitlekutana/xibelani) or the shorter dancing skirt (xigejo) worn by Tsonga women.

Ntwane child figure (gimwane)

Gimwane dolls are used in a game played by young Ntwane girls and boys, before they are initiated. The boys and girls contract marriages with each other, with the dolls functioning as their children. The lower part of the gimwane figures are covered with beaded waistbands that mimic those worn by initiated and married Ntwane women. The upper part of both figures is enclosed in grass rings, much like those worn by young Ntwane girls.

Lesotho child figure

Child figures among the South Sotho, living in and around Lesotho, serve two main functions. They were used by women in the past, during wedding ceremonies, to demonstrate to their future husbands the desire for children. Today these dolls are still used to treat infertility in barren women.

Trade Dolls

Traditional Southeast African dolls, full of symbolism and meaning, experienced a new transformation of purpose in the twentieth century. These dolls, once rich in ritual and the promise of human fertility, found themselves rich in ritual and the promise of economic fertility, as they became commodities of the Western world.