Namchi-Doll

The Namji/Namchi group lives in the north west of Cameroon and is famous for its geometrical carved and highly decorated dolls. The girls learn their motherly duties by playing with them. Usually they always carry the dolls around with them, feeding them and telling them stories from the old ones before going to bed.

Namji-dolls are known as one of the most beautiful African dolls and are made out of solid wood. This piece is decorated with amongst other things coins, which are embossed with “British West Africa 1945”. The doll was bought in Antwerp in the 1990s and has been owned since then by a Hamburg collector.